Safe and Sound
by AnnikaMalfoy
Summary: Rose has always insisted that everything Strigoi Dimitri did was forgivable. That idea is about to be tested. Will she hold true to her words? Or will this be the end of her and Dimitri?
1. Prolouge

**A/N: This is my first attempt at a Vampire Academy fanfiction. After my second time reading Spiritbound and Last Sacrifice, I found myself wondering if there was anything Dimitri did while he was a Strigoi that Rose wouldn't be able to forgive him for. I haven't yet gotten the answer to that question, but my thoughts spawned the beginning of a potential masterpiece. Let's see what happens.**

**KATYA**

I've never been the religious type. In fact, no one in my family was. True, we were all Christians, but we never really went to church or studied the bible. Looking back, I find myself wondering if my life would be any different if I had been a little more dedicated to my religion.

Would going to church every Sunday have made God answer my prayers as I watched my father being murdered by a monster? Would He have kept the monster from catching me when I ran? Would He have saved me from this hell? Would I have lost my virginity at sixteen? Would I be lying naked in a sorry excuse for a closet in shackles waiting for the monster to return?

I didn't have the answers to those questions, but it didn't matter. Those things happened, and that is my life now.

Still, I curl up in a ball and pray that the monster stays away tonight. The prayer goes unanswered as the huge metal door opens and he steps in.

"Good evening, puppy." He sneers. "Let's play."

**ROYAL COURT SOMETIME LATER…**

**DIMITRI**

I come awake dripping in sweat with my heart beating frantically in my chest. I take a deep breath and try to slide out of the bed without waking Rose. She didn't know about the dreams that continued to plague me and I never want her to find out about them.

She had been so willing to forgive me for everything I had done as a Strigoi but, as I tried to tell her, some things were unforgivable, and this was one of those things. If she ever finds out about this, I know she'd leave.

"Dimitri," Rose says as I try to slide out from under her arm. "Is something wrong?"

"No, Roza." I sigh. "Just go back to sleep."

**A/N: For those of you who have figured out where this is going, keep your flames to yourself. I know dhampir Dimitri wouldn't do something like this, but Strigoi Dimitri would. **


	2. Regret

**A/N: Sorry it has taken me so long to update this story. I've been so inspired lately that I haven't been able to focus solely on one project. I've worked out a schedule, though. From now on, this story will be updated every other Thursday.**

**I also want to let people know that I did change the prologue a little from when I originally posted the story. If you read it in the first 24 hours of its posting, I would recommend that you read it again. **

**Also, to avoid confusion, the parts of the story told from Katya's P.O.V. are the dreams Dimitri will be waking up from in the first couple of chapters. **

**Finally, this story takes place between Last Sacrifice and Bloodlines, so Jill and Adrian will be popping up from time to time. **

**KATYA**

I shrink back into a corner of the small closet, desperately praying _he _would go away and leave me to my misery. As always, the prayer goes unanswered.

"Don't worry, puppy." He says closing the door behind him. "I won't hurt you. Much." He chuckles as I back myself further in the corner.

The first thing I learned when he brought me here was that trying to run from him was useless. He was stronger and faster than I was. Resistance would only get me hurt more, but I could never bring myself to give up the fight against him. My father wouldn't want that. He had always taught me to fight, no matter how hopeless the situation seemed.

"Stay away from me." I say knowing it won't do me any good. He chuckles and grabs me by the hair. I scream in pain as he drags me toward him. I'm sure he's pulled some of my hair out of my scalp.

I'm so close to him, I have to fight the urge to throw up. He reeks of death and decay and his red eyes are bright with lust and anger—both of which I know will be taken out on me. I have no idea what had angered him so, but I'm going to take the punishment for it. I try to fight the tears that are creeping up on me.

"Is that any way to talk to the man who spared your life?" He growls right in my face. "The man who gives you a place to live?" I fight the urge to laugh. This pitiful excuse for a closet with a tiny ragged excuse for a blanket and no pillow could hardly be considered a decent place to live. "The man who feeds you?" Again, three or four glasses of water and a small plate of crackers, fruit, and bread a day didn't really count as feeding. He was giving me what I needed to survive, that was it.

The smart thing would be for me just to apologize and let him get on with it. Instead, I hulk back some snot and spit it directly in his face. I am a fighter, after all.

He growls and backhands me across the face releasing my hair as he does so. I fall to the floor with a small cry of pain. My shackled hands prevent me from clutching my cheek or protecting myself from the assault of kicks that follow.

I take a couple of sharp ones to my stomach that leave me gasping for breath with tears in my eyes. I do my best to curl into a ball to protect myself.

"Stupid. Worthless. Human." He punctuates each word with kicks to my knees and shins. "I was going to take it easy on you tonight, but now you can forget it. Now get on your back." I stay curled in a ball as more tears continue to roll down my cheeks. "I said get on your back!" He kicks me hard in the shoulder with enough force to flip me over. He straddles me and gets right in my face before grabbing my chin and forcing me to look into those terrifying red eyes. "Now, you are going to do exactly what you are told, tonight, or I'll bring my friends in here for a little party. Understand?"

"Yes." I say squeezing out more tears. I had seen enough of his friends to know that I didn't want them anywhere near my body.

"Good, then open wide." He reaches for his belt buckle, and I squeeze my eyes shut.

**DIMITRI  
**

"Dimitri, wake up." Rose's voice permeates the horrible images of Katya and me. "It's just a dream. Nothing your seeing is real." She has no idea how very real they are for me and that sad, scared little girl. "Just wake up." I feel her shaking me as my mind tries to escape the punishment of my actions.

"I'm awake, Roza." I finally say forcing my eyes open.

"Thank God." She says sitting back against the headboard. Her long dark hair falling out of the loose braid she had it in for the night. "I thought I was going to have to start smacking you or something. You've been carrying on for the last fifteen minutes. What were you dreaming about?"

"Nothing." I say avoiding her eyes. I've always tried to be honest with her about everything, even things from when I was a Strigoi. I can't tell her this, though. Her forgiving heart could only get us through so much. Not this, though. "Just the usual haunting memories. I'm sorry I woke you." I sit up and slide out of bed.

She reaches out with a speed only a guardian could master and grabs my shoulder.

"Don't give me that crap, Dimitri." She says. "I know what your usual dreams are like and this was different. The last few weeks have been different. Talk to me."

I look her in the eye and sigh deeply. There's no way I am getting out of giving her some kind of explanation for what I've been dreaming about, but I have no idea what to tell her. I run my hand down her cheek wanting desperately to tell her all about what's been haunting me, but knowing it would be the end of everything for us.

"There are some things better left unsaid, Roza. Now go back to sleep" I shake my head and go into the bathroom.

"I'm not in high school anymore, Dimitri." She crawls out of bed and joins me. "Your Zen life lessons aren't going to shut me up." I splash water on my face trying to clear my head of those horrible images. "Please, just tell me what's going on?"

I turn to look at her trying to keep my patience. The thing I love most about Rose was her spirit and fire. She never gives up until she gets what she wants. Of course, it was quite annoying when you were on the receiving end of it.

"I don't want to talk about, Rose, okay." I say in barely controlled frustration. "It is something that I have to deal with on my own."

"Why? I would do anything to make your pain go away. Why won't you let me help you?" She asks tears pooling in her eyes. Rose had always been so brave and strong, rarely showing those around her how she really felt. It hurts to see her standing before me on the verge of tears because of something I did, but I know the truth would hurt her even more.

"Because I don't deserve your help with this." I tell her. "As much as you want to deny it, I've done things that are beyond forgiveness in those months. Things that I don't want you to be haunted by."

"So I'm just supposed to watch you suffer because you don't want me to be hurt by what you've done?"

"I'm sorry." I whisper turn off the bathroom light and crawl back into our bed. "Just come back to bed, please."

She glares at me, and despite the situation, I can't help but think how sexy she looks in one of my t-shirts.

"Fine, but this conversation isn't over."

"I never doubted that for a moment." I sigh as she lies with her back pressed up against me. I wrap my arms around her and snuggle closer so we are spooning. "Even though, I'd rather you just let it go."

"Why?"

"Because I love you, Roza, and I don't want to lose you." She turns in my arms so she is facing me and placing her hand on my cheek.

"How many times do I have to tell you that nothing you did in those months will ever make me stop loving you? How many times do I have to prove it? Dimitri, I love you, you know that, and I'm gonna stand by you through everything. It doesn't matter what you've done. When are you going to understand that?"

I sigh and bury my face in her hair. Those were the same words she has been telling me since Lissa healed me. She pounded them in my head until I finally started believing them, and I want to have faith in them. I want to be able to spill my guts about Katya knowing those words will still be true when it was over, but I can't. I can't expect her to even want to come near me when she finally hears the worst of my Strigoi secrets.

I may have been an honorable man, but I was extremely selfish to. We were finally together without complications and were able to be open about it I didn't want to give that up.

"I understand, Roza." I say into her hair. "But I'm afraid that this is going to be the one thing that changes your opinions. Love can survive a lot of things, but not something like this. So please, just let me handle this one on my own, okay?"

"That's not what you do when you love someone."

"No, it's what you do when you wanna keep loving someone."

"You can't keep talking like that and not tell me what you did. And I can't keep watching you suffer through the memories of it. Please, just tell me?"

"It's late." I sigh. "And Lissa has an early class, you need to sleep."

"That's not an answer."

"I know, but it's a fact. We both have a job to do and that comes before anything else."

I hated using that as an excuse, but I knew it was the only thing that would get her to drop the subject and go to sleep. I know I have to tell her eventually, but I couldn't yet.

"Fine." She turns away from me and slides to the other side of the bed. I sigh, but didn't know what to say. In trying to protect and keep her with me, I've made her angry and I didn't know how to fix it.

I don't sleep much after that. Every time I close my eyes, I see the images of Katya lying beneath me begging me to stop as tears streamed down her face. And when those wake me, all I can think about is how I'm going to save my relationship with Rose. If I tell her the truth, I know I will lose her, but if I don't, it could end the same way.

I get up nearly two hours before my alarm goes off and go for a run to try to clear my head. I find myself thinking about Katya. It's easier when my subconscious is not in control. I can pick and choose the parts I want to remember and ignore the rest. Not that I'm found of any of it, but some parts were easier to think about than others, like the night I first met her…

**FLASHBACK**

_I had only been a Strigoi for a few short weeks and was still learning to be good at it. Hunting without arousing suspicion in the human race was difficult, but it was even harder trying to rid myself of the lingering feelings I had for Rose. I couldn't figure out while those remained when I lost every other bit of my humanity, but I supposed our love was just that strong. _

_It was a feeding nigh,t and I had gone to a lot of trouble to lure a young prostitute into a dark alley where I was sure we wouldn't be spotted. _

"_It's alright." I told her in a soothing voice never breaking eye contact. "This will be quick and painless as long as you cooperate." I held my hand out to her and she took it without hesitation. "Good girl. Now, don't struggle or scream. Everything is gonna be alright." I pulled her to me and turned her around faster than her little human brain could keep up with. She remained absolutely silent as I yanked her head to the side exposing her neck pretty little neck. I suck my teeth into her neck without hesitation or remorse. _

_Her body shook and spasmed in my arms, but the girl didn't make a sound as I drained the life from her. I savored every last drop long after she stopped writhing in my arms. When I finished, I threw her body into the dumpster ready to do my errands for the night. _

_A man stood frozen in the mouth of the alleyway, his light dark brown eyes wide and gaping. Damn! I thought I had gotten away without any witnesses then again I could always go for a little dessert. Before he could even move I was behind him tilting his head to the side ready to sink my fangs in. _

"_Please." He cried. "Don't kill me. I beg you. I'm the only person my daughter has left in the world. I'll do anything just spare me, please." _

_As a Strigoi, he pleads shouldn't have bothered me. I should've just been able to sink my teeth into him, feed, and move on. He words, however, struck at the lingering bits of humanity the monster was trying to force back. I couldn't sink my teeth into him and leave some poor young girl alone in the world. True, it would eventually mean another prostitute for my friends and I to feed on, but I couldn't make it happen, the small bit of dhampir that was still there wouldn't let me. _

_I threw the man to the floor but placed my foot on his back to prevent him from running. I couldn't bring myself to kill him, but I couldn't give him the chance to run either. I couldn't guarantee he wouldn't run his mouth and help the humans put an end to the vampire race. Compelling him to forget what he saw was always an option, but that would make me appear weak to the others, and I couldn't have that. _

_There was another option. One that would be entertaining and solve both our problems. One that was so evil I couldn't the dhampir was allowing me to think about it. It was cold and cruel, but absolutely genius as well. _

"_Introduce me to your daughter." I told the man quivering beneath my foot. _

"_What?" he asked._

"_I want to meet your daughter then we can discuss what I want in exchange for your life."_

_He looked up at me with terror in his eyes weighing his options. No one in their right mind would want me anywhere near their child, but if it helped to save his life, he couldn't say no. It was an interesting battle. I wished I could actually hear it. _

_In the end, his survival instinct won, as I knew it would. _

"_Alright." He finally said. "My house is only a few blocks over." _

"_Lead the way." I let him stand. "But know if you try anything, I will kill you then I'll kill your daughter out of spite." He nodded as we made our down the street. _

_We walked in silence as I imagined all the possibilities thuis plan would present in the coming weeks. It was exactly what I needed to get rid of the lingering, annoying yearnings for Rose and her body against mine the way we had been on that last day. _

_We arrived at a small one story house with a porch swing and blue shutters on the windows. _

"_How quaint." I said in disgust as he opened the door. _

"_Katya, will you come here for a minute?" The man called in a shaking voice. "There's someone I want you to meet." _

"_Give me just a minute." Was the uncertain response. "I'm just finishing up some homework." I listened carefully as I heard the wheels of a desk chair roll away from a desk. A closet door opened and she was rummaging through it. She was smart, I'd give her that, but no amount of weapons would protect her from me. _

_A door off the living opened, and a girl of about sixteen stepped into the tiny foyer that was barely big enough for me. She was wearing a tight white camisole with a pair of gray sweatpants—whatever she had grabbed from her closet was nowhere in sight. I couldn't get a good look at her face because she had eyes only for her father, but I could tell she had the same beautiful curves as Rose. _

"_What's up?" she asked her dad. I could tell she already suspected there was something wrong. Not that she could do anything about it. _

"_I wanted you to meet…"He gestured toward me. "I'm sorry I didn't get your name." His tone was still shaky and I could smell the fear he was trying so hard to cover up. _

"_Dimitri." I held my hand out to the girl. She hesitantly placed her hand in mine. I could feel it trembling in mine. _

"_I'm Katya." She said in a steady voice placing her trembling hand in mine. I had no idea what she was thinking, but she did a much better job at hiding her fear than her father had. "It's a pleasure to meet you, sir." The slight tremble in her voice told me otherwise, but I didn't have much time to dwell on it. _

_She had finally looked up at me, and the shock of what I saw brought me to my knees. The girl standing before me with her dark hair and eyes looked so much like Rose they could've been siblings, twins even. I knew then I was going to go through with my plan. If I couldn't have the real Rose, I'd take the cheap imitation. _

"_Likewise." I smirked. "I look forward to getting to know you." _

"_What?" Her father asked pulling her away from me. "You said I was to introduce you to her, nothing more." _

"_I said introduce me to her and then we'd discuss what I want in exchange for your life." _

"_Dad, what's he talking about?" Katya asked from behind him. _

"_I'll explain later." He responded not taking his eyes off me. "You can't have her. I'll give you anything else you want, except her." _

_I chuckled. Humans were so completely stupid. Did he really think he could barter with me? _

"_This isn't a negotiation." I informed him. "Either you hand her over and live. Or I take her by force and you die. One way or another she'll be mine. The only choice you have is whether or not you're going to live through it." _

"_I will die before I let you lay a head on her." He growled. _

"_Very well." I sighed. Before he could even tell Katya to run, I reached out and snapped his neck with one hand. Katya screamed and took off toward the kitchen. "Must we do this, child." I cut her off at the door. "It would be a lot easier if you just come with me." She turned and headed toward the front door. "Why do you humans always have to do things the hard way?" I sighed reaching the door before she could touch the knob. She made for the stairs, but I grabbed her wrist and pulled her to me. "I was hoping to not have to do this." I placed my hand over her mouth and nose holding it there until she went limp in my arms. _

**END FLASHBACK**

A shiver went down my spine as I remembered that day with startling clarity. A day that I wish I could go back to and change. Wish I would've chosen to simply kill or compel her father right there in that alleyway and not subjected her to the tortured life as my human pet.

Sadly, that wasn't the worst of it. That part came when I left Russia to find and kill Rose. The memories of that last night were more haunting than anything else I could've done to that poor girl, and I couldn't do anything to change it. Hell, I wasn't even sure if she was still alive.

**A/N: I hope this chapter doesn't suck too much. This story was a sudden inspiration kind of thing, and I'm still trying to work through the details of it. I'm not sure if I want to include Rose's P.O.V. in some of it, or if I want to keep it as solely Katya and Dimitri. What do you guys think? Please, review. **


	3. Let Me Go

**A/N: I wanna start by apologizing again for taking so long to update this story. My last quarter of school and my internship just got too overwhelming, and I had to drop the fun stuff. Now that I am officially a college graduate with only my job to occupy my time, I can totally concentrate on what I love now. I've been so excited about this story since I started writing it. So glad I can finally continue with it. **

**A few things before we get started, though. ****Number 1: The opening scene of this chapter is from Katya's P.O.V., but it will be played off as a flashback when we get to Dimitri's P.O.V. ****Number 2: This is just a reminder that this story takes place between Last Sacrifice and Bloodlines, so Jill and Adrian will be in it.**** Number 3: My experiment to write this story in the present tense has failed miserably, so I am going back to past tense. ****Number 4: This chapter picks up right where 2 left off with Dimitri remembering his last night with Katya, and Rose struggling to deal with Dimitri's decision to keep secrets. **

**Now, without further ado, Safe and Sound…**

**KATYA**

My last night in the hands of the monster that was Dimitri Belikov was the most terrifying since the night he killed my father and claimed me as his own. It started out just like any other: He had his way with me, leaving me in a sobbing heap when he was finished. He didn't even bother to make sure that I was okay—not that I really expected him to. I cried myself to sleep like I always did praying it would be a long time before he decided he wanted to play again.

I awoke to series of bangs and the sound of someone running. I swear I could hear screams, too, but I couldn't be sure. When you can't see what's happening, it is easy for your imagination to get the best of you. There was no doubt in my mind that a fight had broken out, though.

Sadly, all I worried about was what was going to happen to me when it was over. If Dimitri survived, I'd be the one to take the punishment for whatever caused the fight, but if he died, I probably would too. I'd seen enough of Dimitri's relationship with the others to know that his keeping me was tolerated because he did his job better than the others. If he was killed in some kind of rebellion, then I most certainly would be, or worse.

I honestly wasn't sure which ending I'd prefer. Death was probably the only I was going to survive this, but I had hope there was a better way out. I just wish I knew what that way was.

I pulled my knees to my chest and sat there praying for an end to the fight. Hoping that I would be found when it was over.

The fighting seemed to go on forever before silence fell. I sensed that I was alone and prayed that someone was still alive. If I was going to die, I'd rather it be a quick death from a vampire bite than a slow one from starvation.

I sat in the silence too shocked and scared to even move for what could've been hours, or days before I finally heard the lock on the door click. I took a deep breath and prayed for a savior as the door swung open.

Terror seized me again as the door swung open to reveal an enraged, soak, and wet Dimitri standing before me. And when I say enraged, I mean nostrils flaring, deep, furious breathing, and a face on the verge of turning purple.

"Up, now." He growled. I didn't even hesitate to follow those orders. This was the angriest I had ever seen this monster, and I didn't want to suffer the consequences of disobedience.

He grabbed the chain connecting my shackled wrists and dragged me from the closet. This was the first time I had been outside the closet since he brought me here, and that scared me. Was he finally going to kill me? Or was something else going on?

"What are you going to do to me?" I asked unable to stop myself.

Dimitri didn't give me any kind of an answer, or even punish me for speaking without permission. He simply continued to lead me down an elaborate hallway and up a large staircase. If I was so scared, I would've been amazed at how well monster like Dimitri and his friends had lived.

I had always imagined living in a house as big and beautiful as this. I just never thought it would be as a prisoner.

Dimitri continued to drag me along until we reached a dented up door that stood partially ajar. There was some kind of key pad next to it. He muttered something that sounded like "Oh, Roza" under his breath before dragging me inside.

He pulled me through another short hallway that led to another partially open door with a key pad next to it. He growled and shoved the door hard enough that it banged against the wall crashing through the plaster and not bouncing back. I flinched and gulped. I was in more trouble than I originally thought.

Dimitri pulled me into a room that reminded me of what Americans called a studio apartment. One big room that served as a kitchen, living room, and bedroom. It was much bigger than it should be, though, and it looked like a crime scene. The bed was a mess and furniture was upended. There was even a broken chair in the middle of the kitchen. I wondered if the fight started up here.

Dimitri shoved me into the black leather arm chair.

"Don't move." He growled. I gulped but nodded. The anger and hate in his red eyes was threat enough. I didn't know what would happen if I disobeyed, but I knew it would hurt worse than anything he's done to me in the past.

I watched as he went into the bathroom and dragged the body of an unconscious—I hoped simply unconscious—human woman out. He threw her down in front of me, and checked her pulse before walking over to a closet opposite the bed.

He pulled out a skimpy black dress that looked to be about my size before my extended stay with the monster. Now, it would hang off me in place it was supposed to be tight.

"Bathroom, now." He ordered pointing to the door as if I was stupid. I slid off the chair slowly and walked into the bathroom. What was going on?

I stepped in and he slammed the door behind us. He pulled several towels out of cabinet and threw them on the sink. Then he surprised me my pulling a key out of his pocket and unlocking my shackles. They fell to the flow and I rubbed my sore wrists.

"Get yourself cleaned up and put this on when you're finished." He handed me the dress.

"Why?" I asked needing to understand what was going on. Why did he suddenly care if I was clean and clothed?

My question was answered with a hard slap across the face. I stumbled a little, but managed to catch the wall and steady myself before I fell.

"Because I said so." He growled. "And, in case you haven't noticed, today is not the day to question me."

"Yes, Sir." I whispered to the floor.

"Good. Now, I've got some things to do, so I'm going to lock the door. Knock three times when you're done."

"Yes, Sir."

He turned and walked out of the bathroom leaving me to stand there and continue wondering what the hell was going on.

**ROSE**

I didn't sleep much that night. I was too irritated with Dimitri to do more than just lie there and try to make sense of his silence. We had been through so much in the months following his restoration, and he's told me everything he did as a Strigoi. He told me all about the people he killed so he could feed and the one's he killed just because he could. He told me all about the people he hurt and the torture he inflicted on people because of his bitch of a boss.

I stood by him knowing all of that. I told him again and again that I didn't give a damn what he did in those months, because it wasn't him. I told him repeatedly how much I loved him, and how nothing was ever going to change that. I've stood by that promise even through some of the more horrific stories. I've done nothing in the last few months but prove that he could trust me. Why did he think he couldn't trust me with whatever this was? I just didn't understand.

I pretended to be asleep when Dimitri got up two hours before he had to meet Christian for their Moroi magic and self-defense lesson. The class was an experiment of Lissa's. She wanted to see how many Moroi wanted to learn to defend themselves, and if they had the drive to actually finish the class. Christian and Dimitri were chosen to teach it because they are masters of magical and physical defense, respectively.

"I'm sorry, Roza." He whispered as he kissed me on the forehead. "I love you, more than anything."

I let a few tears leak from my eyes as I heard our bedroom door closed. If he loved me so much, then why was he keeping things from me?

I laid there until I was sure that he wasn't coming back. I didn't like him to see me like this, especially over him. Yes, he may already know that I'm not as strong as I pretend to me, but that doesn't mean I have to show him how vulnerable I can get.

Unable to sleep, I got out of bed and put on my work out gear. There was nothing better to help deal with stress then a nice fight with a punching bag.

When I got to the court's training room, I was surprised to find that I wasn't the only one in the mood for some early morning training.

Eddie Castile, my good friend and fellow guardian, was already going at the sand bag like there was no tomorrow. He was landing punch after punch that sent the bag flying so violently I thought it was going swing right off the peg that fastened it to the ceiling.

"Hey, what did it ever do to you?" I asked grabbing the bag after a particularly violent punch.

Eddie let out frustrated chuckle at the sound of my voice, but dropped his defensive stance.

"Nothing." He answered. "Just imagining it's each member of the council in turn, except Lissa, of course."

"You got passed up, again?" I asked letting go of the bag unable to believe it.

It was no secret that Eddie was as unpopular with the royal council as I was before I took that bullet for Lissa. Unfortunately, that was my fault. He helped me illegally sneak Lissa out of the royal court to break a highly dangerous criminal out of jail. Of course, the council didn't know about the jailbreak part. They just thought we had a crazy weekend in Vegas. That little trip hurt Eddie's popularity as a guardian a lot.

There was also the unfortunate incident when he killed a Moroi to protect Lissa. Even though, it was proven he was doing his duty, the black mark was still following him.

Eddie gave the bag another good hard punch in answer to my question.

"I'm sorry." Rose said. "I can talk to Lissa if you want."

"No." Eddie shook his head. "She is already doing everything she can to soften them up. Besides, I have a feeling I'm going to be needed for something bigger and better real soon. It's just frustrating, you know?"

"Believe me, I do."

I remember feeling always feeling the way he did when people would act like I wasn't worthy of guarding Lissa. Yes, my methods weren't always the best, but everything always turned out okay. Whenever she was in trouble, I was able to get her out of it alive and unscathed—most of the time.

Eddie was going through the same thing with the council. With these two black marks on his record, no one wanted him. No matter how hard he fought to prove himself. It made me want to give the members of the council a few good punches in their perfect royal faces.

"So what brings you here, so early?" Eddie asked changing the subject. As close as we remained, he didn't like to talk much about his inability to get an assignment. I supposed it had something to do with my involvement.

"Same thing as you: frustration." I answered humoring him. "Only mine's with my boyfriend."

"Trouble in paradise?" He asked raising his eyebrows.

I shrugged. Eddie was a good friend I knew I could talk to about anything, but this was a conversation I felt was reserved for Lissa. Still, he told me his problems, so I felt like I owed him something.

"I honestly don't know what's going on. There's something from when he was a Strigoi that's bothering him worse than any of the other stuff. He refuses to tell me what it is, though." I explained.

"Did he say why he doesn't what you to know?" Eddie asked.

"Just that he doesn't think I'll be able to forgive him for it. He says he's afraid if he tells me, that I won't love him anymore."

Eddie nodded.

"I wish I could offer some advice." He said. "But unless I know what it is, I can't tell you if his fear are unfounded or not."

"I love him, Eddie. I loved him when he was that monster. Hell, I loved him when I was his prisoner. How can he think that anything he did then would make me stop loving him?"

"I don't know, Rose. I think you're just gonna have to wait until he is ready to talk to you."

I nodded. I had known that was true from the very beginning. I just wished it didn't take him so long to realize that my feelings for him weren't going to change no matter what he said or did.

"Hey, you're frustrated, I'm frustrated. How about a little sparring?" Eddie suggested. "It could be good for both of us."

He was right. Beating the punching bag was nice for stress relief, but it was nothing compared to fighting with someone who could punch back. It took a lot more concentration and strength.

"I don't think my kicking your butt is gonna help your frustration any." I joked.

"Is that a challenge?"

"Perhaps."

"The bring it on, Hathaway, bring it on."

**KATYA**

My shower took longer than was normal. I had been locked in that closet with no access to shampoo or a hairbrush longer than I thought. As it was, any entire bottle of shampoo and body wash to get myself looking as clean as I was the day Dimitri brought me here.

Once I was finished, I put the dress on as Dimitri ordered. It was a bit large around my stomach area, but the cut and length didn't leave much to the imagination. I didn't think I had ever worn a dress this slutty in my life. After dressing, I found a brush in the medicine cabinet and did my best to brush through the tangled wet mess.

I was just looking myself over in the mirror when Dimitri started banging on the door.

"Are you finished, yet?" He yelled.

"Yes." I called back in a shaking voice trying to swallow my fear.

The first thing I noticed when he opened the door was that he had calmed down a great deal since he left me in the bathroom; the second was that he was dry and wearing different clothes. He was in a simple t-shirt and pair of jeans with a long jacket that looked like it was pulled out of old western flick. The fact that he looked so casual but made me dress like a two cent hooker scared me.

"Go stand in the center of the room so I can get a good look at you." He ordered in his usual nasty tone. Sadly, I relaxed when I discovered the rage was gone.

I did as he said without hesitating, though. I didn't want to risk bringing back his rage. I even did a slow spin when I got there hoping it would help him get a better look at me.

"The dress is a little big around the middle, but your other assets should be enough to cover up for that." He mumbled walking around me. "The hair will be a mess by the time we get there, but I don't Marcus and Rebekah will give a damn about that. None of their clients will be looking at your hair."

My heart started hammering at the word clients as everything started to make sense. The shower, the dress, the inspection. He was planning on giving me to someone else. Someone who, by the sound of it, would turn me into some kind of prostitute.

"No. Please." I cried dropping to my knees in front of him trying to keep the tears out of my eyes. I had never begged this man for anything, not even when he punished me for not doing it, but I didn't want him to do this. It was bad enough that I had to serve and be raped by him on a daily basis, but to be sent someone where it'd be open season on me. I wouldn't be able to handle that. "Please, don't give me away. I'll do anything. Just don't do that to me, please. Drain me dry. Beat me to death. Anything, but that."

Dimitri chuckled and pulled a pair of high heeled knee high boots out of the closet.

"That's funny." He said. "All that time I spent trying to make you beg me for things. To think, this was all it would take. It's too bad that I couldn't change my mind, even if I wanted to."

"What do you mean?" I asked more terrified than I had been a second ago.

"I'm going on a little trip. As much fun as it would be to bring you along for entertainment, it would be too much of a hassle. So I'm going to leave you with some friends who will take good care of you, until I return."

"Then just kill me, please." I couldn't help the tears that were spilling down my cheeks. I just wanted this to end. I didn't want to continue living this life, especially if I was going to be turned into some kind of whore. "Haven't I suffered enough? Please, just let it end. Please."

Dimitri chuckled again and threw the boots at me.

"Shut up and put them on."

"Please. I'm begging you."

He grabbed me by the hair and yanked back so hard I screamed in pain.

"Shut up and put the shoes on. I'm ready to leave."

He shoved my head back towards the floor, and I dissolved into a sobbing mess. I put the shoes on knowing there was no way I could change his mind.

**DIMITRI**

I sold her. She knelt on that floor and begged for me to put an end to her misery by killing her, but I didn't listen. Instead, I sold her like she was a piece of property and mean anything to anyone. I had already ruined her life by taking her as my "pet." Why couldn't I have just put an end to her misery when she asked me to? Why did I have to do that to her?

And to make matters worse, I sold her to Marcus and Rebekah, the cruelest, most evil Strigoi I had ever met. God only knew what they were doing to that poor girl now. That is, if they hadn't killed her, yet.

I continued to run my usual path around the court as I contemplated what to do now.

I knew if there was any chance at all that she was still alive, I couldn't leave her there. I had already left her alone in that hell hole for too long. I needed to get her out of there. Somehow, some way.

I knew I couldn't do it alone, though. Word about my restoration had already spread like wildfire, and even if it hadn't, Marcus and Rebekah would know the second I walked in that I wasn't a Strigoi anymore. They wouldn't so much as let me see her.

No, I would need help.

Unfortunately, the only way to get help was to tell the people I loved the whole horrible story. I'd have to tell Rose the one thing that would destroy her faith in me.

Was I ready to do that?

**A/N: What do you guys think? I hope Eddie and Rose's dialogue turned out okay. I needed to break up the inner monologue thing a little. I really liked it, though. Also, I hope Dimitri's thoughts make sense. I know he kind of did a 180 from the last chapter, but I look at it like this: The more time he spends consciously thinking about it, the more he is realizing that he needs to do the right thing. He hasn't decided what to do just, yet. That won't come until he has a little conversation with Lissa. Anyway, I hoped you guys liked it. Please review! **


	4. Something Awful, This Way Comes

**A/N: Before I start, I have to say that I am shocked with the feedback this story is getting. I thought for sure people would hate me for making Dimitri this much of a monster while he was a Strigoi. It is nice to see that my habit for thinking outside the box hasn't ruined the popularity of this story. **

**Also, I want to inform you that Katya's part of the story has finally caught up with everyone else's. What is happening to her right now is happening around the same time as what is happening to Rose and Dimitri. Just be aware that they are in two different countries still. **

**KATYA**

"The bosses are ready to see you now." Adam's sad yet angry voice pulled me out of the comfortable numbness that I had fallen into. I felt the chains that kept me fettered to the wall give as I sank to the floor. My legs were still too weak from my punishment to hold me up. "You do realize things would be a lot less painful for you, if you just cooperated and stopped trying to escape." Adam's voice found me again as he hauled me to my feet. "I mean, the other girls accept their positions in this world, and they are very well taken care of. If you acted more like them, you could be taken care of too."

I tried to let out a sigh of frustration, but it came out as more of a whimper when simply walking across the floor caused pain to sear across my back. I liked Adam, a lot. In fact, he was the only friend I had managed to make during my time in this God forsaken place.

Adam, a dhampir, worked for Marcus and Rebekah Masterson at their exclusive, supernatural creatures only night club, which just happened to be the place where Dimitri had dumped me before his trip. Adam, however, was a million times more compassionate than Marcus and Rebekah and a good majority of their clientele. He would food me when they would deny me food and take care of me after I was punished for something. He just couldn't seem to understand why I had to get out of there.

"Last time, I checked the other girls were here by choice." I whispered hoarsely. It had been at least a day since I had been given water. I knew that I was headed toward dehydration, but that didn't bother me. I had long since given up hope that Dimitri would return for me, and judging from my previously failed attempts, death was the only escape I would get from this hell. Hopefully, if I pissed Marcus off enough, he would kill me and get it over with quickly. "None of them were thrown here because a sadistic vampire decided he didn't want them anymore."

"Point taken." Adam answered. I imagined if the situation had been less serious, he would've been smirking at my response, maybe even laughing. Unfortunately, the truth was to horrifying.

The other girls were runaways of all varieties—humans, witches, vampires, and any other supernatural creature you could think of—who Marcus and Rebekah offered a warm, dry place to sleep and three meals each day in exchange for them working at the night club. Some helped out at the bar while others waited tables and entertained the clients by stripping. It just depended on were Marcus and Rebekah thought you fit.

Some clients paid extra for alone time with the girls. Alone time could be for anything, really—sex, feeding, or just a chance to throw the girls around a little. It just depended on how much the clients were willing to pay. Rebekah worked very hard to make sure none of the girls got killed during alone time. On the few occasions it did happen, Marcus personally destroyed the client responsible.

I suppose it was a nice arrangement for these girls who had nowhere else to go, but not for someone like me, who just wanted to get away from all the cruelty of the supernatural creature. I just wanted to be left alone to die. Was the too much to ask.

"Even so," Adam continued. "If you didn't keep giving them a reason to hurt you, I'm sure they'd treat you like everyone else. You could have a comfortable life if you would just give in."

"You don't get it." I said cringing as each step we took stung the still open wounds on my back. "I don't want to be comfortable, Adam. I don't want to be here. I just want them to kill me and get it over with."

Adam sighed as he flipped me up into his strong arms. I cringe as his arm touched my back through my torn t-shirt.

"I'm sorry." He whispered, but I wasn't sure if he was apologizing for my current situation or the fact that in trying to help me, he only hurt me more. "I don't think you're going to get your wish, though. Even though, your constant escape attempts and feisty attitude keeps you from making him money, Marcus likes you."

I can't help the snort that comes out at those words. Yeah, I knew how much Marcus liked me and my blood. My neck was covered in bite marks and bruises while my nether regions never seemed to stop throbbing anymore. Not to mention that whenever I wasn't being punished, I was in his bed with Rebekah watching him play. Occasionally, she would join him for the sex and the snack.

"He's not going to kill you anytime soon, even if it means looking you in a cage in his room for the rest of your life." Adam continued shaking his head. I could hear the disgust in his tone. It was the same tone of disgust he had whenever he talked about Marcus and Rebekah. It made me wonder why he was even working for them, if what they did disgusted him so much.

I opened my mouth to ask him just that, but he pressed his fingers to his lips and lowered me back to the floor, gently. I understood this to mean that we were too close to Adam and Rebekah's room to continue being friendly with each other. I liked that Adam did so much to help take care of me and I didn't want to get him into trouble.

He wrapped his fingers I may hair and gave a gentle yank. I walked slowly forward on trembling legs staring at the floor. My heart rate picked up as we got closer to the room. Despite my constant escape attempts, I was scared to death of my new masters and wished desperately that Dimitri hadn't left me with them.

Adam knocked on the door three times.

"Come in." Rebekah's cold high pitched voice called through the door. I gulped as Adam pushed the door opened and dragged me through.

He shoved me just hard enough for me to stumble and hit the floor, but not enough to hurt myself.

"Excellent." Marcus's voice said from somewhere above me. I learned enough in the last few months not to look up until I was forced or ordered to. "Just the bitch I wanted to see. Thank you, Adam. That's all."

"Yes, Sir." Adam replied sounding as polite as possible. I heard the door shut as he walked out leaving me alone to face my fate.

**DIMITRI**

My mind was still on Katya and the horrible place I left her when I met Christian in the gym for our defense classes. It wasn't until I saw that Christian was already instructing the group of twenty or so Moroi in warm ups that I realized I was late.

"Mia, would you please take over for a few minutes?" Christian asked when he saw me.

"Of course." Mia Rinaldi walked to the front of the class. She, who had firsthand experience fighting Stigoi, was the first person to sign up for our class when Lissa suggested the experiment. She was already far more advanced than many of her peers in the class, but she was always willing to learn more and lend a helping hand when needed. She was definitely a Moroi I would want on my side in a fight.

Christian walked over to me with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Are you okay, man?" he asked. "It's not like you to be late?"

"I'm sorry. Rose and I…"

"You had a fight about what's ever been bothering you these last few weeks." He finished for me.

"How did you know?" I asked raising an eyebrow at him.

"She and Castile were just leaving when I came in to set up." He shrugged. "I caught the end of their conversation. To be honest, you should just tell her. She can handle whatever she it is."

"I have no doubt about that." I sighed. I didn't think so low of my Roza to think that she wouldn't be able to handle a tale of kidnapping, rape, and abuse. That wasn't my concern. I knew she wouldn't look at me the same when I told her about this, and I didn't think I could handle seeing the disappointment in her eyes when she looked at me. Or handle the rejection that came with a confession like this. "Her ability to handle it isn't what I'm worried about."

"You think she won't forgive you for whatever this is." Christian stated. I raised my eyebrows at him again. "Maybe, I listened to a little more than the end of the conversation." He confessed having the decency to look a little ashamed of himself. "You don't give her enough credit, man. Rose is an incredibly forgiving person with a big heart. True, she hides that side of herself well, but it's there. You should have a little more faith in that."

I sighed. I knew he was right on so many levels, but I also knew that difference between right and wrong, forgivable and unforgivable. Raping an innocent girl repeatedly because she reminded me of Rose was definitely unforgivable.

"Believe me you would think differently if you ever found out what I'm keeping from her." I told him. "You'd probably encourage her and Lissa, for that matter to stay far away from me. Hell, you'd probably never speak to me again."

Christian laughed at those words.

"Well, then, why don't we cancel the class, get a drink, and you can try me?" He offered. "And I promise that I will not say anything to Rose, regardless of what you say."

I sighed. I knew I would eventually have to come clean with everyone, but I wasn't sure Christian was the one first one I wanted to hash out all the details to. I would've rather told Lissa the whole story first, but the thought of how she would react to it scared me almost as much as Rose's possible reaction.

Lissa was even more compassionate and forgiving than Rose, but I was sure those emotions had their limits too. I didn't want Lissa to look at me any differently or even regret making me a dhampir again instead of just killing me.

Christian was different the two girls who were honestly the center of my world. Sure, he had become a good friend in the months since my restoration, but we were nowhere near as close as I was to Lissa or Rose, and his opinion didn't matter to me as much. Maybe, he would be a good test audience. Or maybe I was just tying the noose and preparing to hang myself.

I guess there was only one way to find out.

"I suppose Lissa will tell you, if I don't." I finally said. "I may as well cut out the middle man."

**KATYA**

I was still kneeling in the center of the room, staring at the floor when Marcus's fancy brand name dress shoes appeared in front of my face. I heard heels clicking on against the hardwood floor and knew Rebekah was coming up behind me.

The fact that the two were coming at me from both sides scared the shit out of me, but I didn't dare look up. I knew I would be punished if I did, and my body couldn't handle more punishment right now. It was still throbbing from the whipping I had received for my attempted escape.

I felt Rebekah's long nails scrap across my scalp before her fingers wrapped in my hair and she yanked my head up so I was looking directly into Marcus's evil red eyes.

His shoulder length blonde hair fell around his angular face. I had to admit, if he wasn't a terrifying vampire, he would've been pretty cute. I was ashamed to admit that I considered his six pack abs to be a slight turn on when he took his shirt off before he started raping me.

With the way Rebekah was holding me, I couldn't see anything other than his face, but I knew he would be wearing a fancy three piece suit. It was his usual attire for opening the club and visiting his clients. I was sure Rebekah was wearing one of slinky black cocktail dresses and a pair of stiletto boots. Her long brown hair would've been done with curls falling around her face.

I took a couple deep breaths and did my best to keep any fear off my face, but I doubted it worked very well.

"Do you have anything to say for yourself?" Marcus growled.

I knew he was referring to my recent, badly planned, failed escape attempt. It actually involved me simply running through the open front door of the club when I thought no one was looking. I didn't know what came over me. I knew there was no chance that I could've made it out of the club, but that's not why I did it.

"Only that I'm sorry." I choked out as best I could. It was hard to talk with Rebekah holding me at this angle.

"You should be." Marcus replied.

"I wasn't finished." I said. I knew this was a bad idea, but it was the only way to get what I wanted. "I'm sorry that I didn't make it out, and I'm sorry your chosen punishment wasn't good enough to kill me."

Anger flared in his red eyes, and I barely had a chance to brace myself before he backhanded me across the face. Rebekah released my hair and I fell to the floor with a cry of pain.

"Oh little girl." Marcus laughed placing his foot on my head, and putting a great deal of pressure on it. I cringed but refused to give him the satisfaction of a verbal reaction. "Your death is the last thing we want, isn't Rebekah?"

"That's right." She replied walking over and digging the heel of her boot into my back. "In fact, I think we'd like to keep you around for a few more months, possibly years. You are just that entertaining."

"Exactly." Marcus removed his foot from my back. "Stand up!" He ordered and I rushed to do what he said while keeping my eyes trained on the floor. This wasn't going anything like I had hoped. Was simply dying too much to ask? "Look at me." My head snapped up so my eyes met his. He grabbed me by the chin and pulled me a little closer to him. I was so used to the stench of reeking vampire that it didn't even make me feel sick to be so close to him anymore.

"Besides," He whispered almost seductively. A shiver went down my spine. "You are too beautiful to just kill." He pushed me away as if suddenly aggravated. I stumbled back into Rebekah who grabbed me around the throat effectively stopping any chance I had at defending myself.

"You could make us so much money." She sighed if you just learned to cooperate.

"Go to hell!" I said through my teeth.

"Eventually, darling, but I'm still having too much fun up here." She laughed.

"Back to the point." Marcus walked up to us with a smirk on his face. "We don't wish to kill you just yet, but we can't trust you to be out in the club or alone and unconfined. It seems you can always find your way out of the places we try to keep you, so we are going to change that right now."

"How?" I asked trying to keep the shake out of my voice. He backhanded me across the other cheek this time.

"I did not give you permission to speak." He growled. Tears blurred my vision as I forced myself to look back at him.

"I'm sorry, Sir." I uttered the required response without much emotion.

"Not yet, you're not." He said patting the cheek he just slapped. "But you will be later, tonight. In answer to your question, though, you will now be spending every moment of your life in this room. Only coming out when Rebekah or myself deem it fit. At which point, you will be required to wear a collar and a leash. That way we can control you at all times."

I gulped as I remembered Adam joking about Marcus keeping me in a cage beside his bed. Dread swept over me as I looked over to the corner where the king size bed sat. Sure enough, there was a large gold cage set up beside it. I wondered if Adam was trying to warn me about this, or if it had just been a coincidence.

"Yes, dear." Rebekah whispered. "That's your new home. You will stay in there at all times, unless Marcus or me need you for something."

"I don't think about trying to escape from this one, either. If you come out without permission, an alarm will go off in the club, and the consequences won't be pretty." Marcus sneered getting right in my face. "Like I said, killing you isn't an option, but it would be a real shame to mess up that pretty face of yours." He gave my cheek another condescending pat before stepping away.

"And don't think we'll change or minds about killing you." Rebekah said turning me around to face her. "If this attempt to keep you in your place, doesn't work, then we will just sell you to the highest bidder, then you won't be our problem anymore."

She laughed then shoved me backward into Marcus.

"We need to get upstairs, love." She said. "The place is filling up fast tonight."

"We will." He replied running his fingers over my neck. I gulped because I knew what was coming. "I just need a little drink first."

"I was thinking the same thing." Rebekah smirked closing in on me.

"Please, not tonight." I begged trying to break Marcus's hold on my waist. I was still trying to recover from my punishment. I didn't need to lose more blood.

They both laughed, but Rebekah didn't stop her approach. Marcus twined the fingers of his free hand in my hair and yanked my head to the side exposing more of my neck while Rebekah grabbed my wrist. I wasn't sure whose fangs pierced my skin first, but the second they did, my world erupted in pain.

**DIMITRI**

"Shit, man." Christian said as I finished the story of Katya and me. That was, of course, after he downed what was in his glass. "How old is she?"

"16." I answered.

"Fuck." He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. He was silent for so long after that, I thought for sure he was about to tell me off. Instead, he looked me in the eye. "I can see why you don't want to tell Rose, but it needs to be done. I mean, she's going to find out eventually."

I gave him a warning look prepared to remind him of his promise.

"Hey, it won't be from me, but these things have a habit of getting out. She'd prefer to hear it from you before rumors start and things get blown out of proportion." He continued holding his hands up in surrender.

"I know. I'm going to have to everyone soon, because I can't just leave her where I dropped her." I explained. "Those vampires will complete destroy her, if they haven't already. I just so worried this is going to the thing that she can't forgive me for. What if she decides that I was too much of a monster to be the man she loves?"

Christian shook his head, pouring us both another glass of whiskey from Lissa's private store. Yes, it was completely illegal for her to have it, and for me to be condoning drinking with a minor, but Lissa was queen and Christian was her boyfriend. What were the guardians going to do, arrest the three of us? Besides, it was nice having someone to talk to, and the alcohol was obviously helping him process this.

"Don't tell anyone I said this, but you and Rose have that storybook kind of love that everyone looks for. God knows, I love Lissa and she loves me, but it is nothing compared to what you and Rose feel for each other. She will stand by you, through everything, Dimitri. Yes, she may be upset at first, but when it is all said in done, she'll still love you."

"You really believe that?" I asked. It surprised me that Christian knew so much about mine and Rose's relationship. True, he was close to us, but he never struck me as the type to pay this much attention to things, or even be this deep.

"Let's see, she dropped out of school to chase you all the way to Russian to put an end to your suffering as a Strigoi." He ticked a number one of his finger. "She broke a man out of jail, in order to find out how to make you a dhampir again." He ticked a second finger. "She didn't stop loving you or fighting your rejections when you didn't believe you were worthy of her any longer." There was number three. "And the more she hears about your months as a Strigoi, the more she loves you and tries to remind you that it wasn't you." He ticked four and took another drink of his whiskey.

"If she still loves you after all of that, she will still love you after this."

"Are you sure about that?" I asked.

"Yes."

"Because I have no choice. I will not allow Katya to suffer any more than she already has."

"If anything, the fact that you are willing to do what's right at the risk of everything you and Rose have will be enough to keep her from hating you."

"I really hope you're right, because if I'm going to do this, I have to do it today."

**A/N: Well, what do you guys think of this chapter? I hope the stuff with Katya wasn't too confusing. Also, I know I said Dimitri was going to talk to Lissa before he made his decision but, for some reason, things felt more right with Christian. I figured, with his family's history, he'd be the best at understanding what Dimitri is going through. I hope you guys agree. Let me know what you think **


	5. Please, Don't Leave Me

**ROSE**

"So what's this about?" I asked with my arms crossed over my chest. It was just after dinner, and I was sitting in my favorite plush armchair in Lissa's study. The pink, frilly upholstery was not exactly in my taste, but it was soft enough that I could ignore Lissa's bad decorating.

Dimitri was sitting across on the love seat across from me with Christian sitting next to him. Christian had a glass of whiskey in his hand. He had tried to offer me one several times but, now that I was finally Lissa's guardian, I had matured a lot more—something I didn't think was possible after the last couple years—and I hadn't had a drink since Lissa's coronation. I refused to allow myself to be caught off guard by anything when it came to Lissa's safety. The Moroi needed her, and I was going to make sure she had a long and happy reign, even if it meant I could no longer have fun.

Lissa was sitting behind her solid oak desk. It was covered in official looking papers—decrees that needed reviewed, permits that needed signed, requests from her subjects—were stacked neatly on the desk. There were several pictures of her loved ones scattered about. Even though I couldn't see them, I knew there was one of Christian, Lissa, Dimitri, and I outside a human movie theater. Lissa had insisted that the four of us go out together at least once a month. She refused to allow being queen to keep her from being a young adult with a normal life.

At dinner, Dimitri, who spent most of the meal pushing food around his plate, had asked that the four of us talk privately after the meal. I had known for weeks now that there was something on his mind and had been trying to get him to come clean about it. I figured that's what this was.

It just irritated me that he didn't think I could handle a one-on-one conversation with him. This was definitely something that needed to be discussed, but I thought for sure he'd want the conversation to be between us. I was the only he ever shared his Strigoi past with. It hurt to think that he thought I couldn't handle this one on my own.

"Are you sure you don't want a drink, Rose?" Christian asked. His usual snarky tone had been replaced by one of complete seriousness, and I realized then that he knew what Dimitri was hiding.

The knowledge hurt, a lot. Yes, he and Christian were friends, but I was the love of his life. I was the one who stood by him through every nightmare and listened to every horror story without ever once judging him for any of it. In fact, I was the one to hold him, kiss him, and tell him everything was going to be okay. I let him cry on my shoulder when the memories became too much, and I whispered words of comfort when the images wouldn't let him sleep.

And yet, he chose to tell someone he barely knew before he was willing to tell me. Why? What could be so bad he would think that Christian could understand it better than I could?

"You told him before you told me." I stated covering my hurt with a tone of anger. "I've been dealing with your nightmares about this particular conversation for weeks and begging you to tell me what it was about, and you refuse to tell me. But you tell him?" I pointed at Christian.

I had nothing against Christian. In fact, he and I had been getting closer over the months since his aunt killed the queen and tried to frame me. I know it was bizarre. You'd think with my involvement in revealing her plot, he would hate me, but it seemed to bring us a little closer together. He was a good guy, and I liked him.

But it was frustrating to know that Dimitri went to him first when I was the one who was there for him through it all.

"Yes, Roza." Dimitri sighed. "I did, but I'm hoping after you hear what I have to say, you'll understand why."

I shook my head sitting back in the chair and crossing my legs. I doubted that I would be able to understand his motives, but I really wanted to know what had him so upset. I needed to know what he thought he couldn't tell me.

"Then talk." I said.

Dimitri sighed and rubbed his temples before getting up at going to the little drink cart sitting by the door. Christian had suggested the servants bring it in, because he knew this was going to be a difficult conversation for everyone.

Dimitri busied himself at the cart for a long few minutes, and when he finally turned around, he was carrying three large glasses of whiskey. He handed one off to Lissa, who took it with raised eyebrows. Lissa almost never drank anymore. She had learned her lesson the night she got kissed Aaron and screwed up her relationship with Christian for a while. Dimitri nodded at her before handing a glass to me. I took it unsure how I felt about this.

He knew Lissa and I were trying very hard to let go of our old bad habits. What was going on?

He returned to his spot next to Christian.

"Trust me. You girls are gonna need it."

**KATYA**

I woke up to a fuzzy brain and the pain of metal digging into my still sore back as I struggled to remember how I got there. The walk from my punishment cell to Marcus's room with Adam came back first, followed by the meeting with Marcus and Rebekah, and the two of them drinking my blood. My current state made more sense with that little detail.

I was always left weak and fuzzy for hour after they drank from me. It was for this reason Marcus rarely raped me after he drank from me. He liked it when I fought him. I'd be too weak for that after he drank from me.

I forced my eyes open so that I could take full inventory of myself. I figured I was in the cage, and Marcus and Rebekah were upstairs running their club.

When the bought the building, they had the basement redone to be their lush bedroom and added a few rooms for Marcus to punish those whose disobeyed them. The floor above the club was where the girls who were here willingly lived. Those rooms where small, though, and there were at least five girls crammed into one of them. Each had a mattress and a small dresser. They shared a closet and any clothes that were in it.

When I was allowed to wear clothes, they were scraps that no longer fit any of the girls, or things pulled out of dumpsters. Judging by the coldness hitting my body, I had been stripped of the privilege of wearing the thin t-shirt. A quick look up and down my body proved that I was right.

Great. I hated being such an easy target for Marcus's perverted tendencies. The least he could've done was allow me something to cover up with when he wasn't using me.

I tried to pat myself down to make sure that hadn't done anything to me while I had been knocked out, but they refused to move. In fact, the felt so heavy, I couldn't even wiggle my fingers and it wasn't just my arms. My whole body felt like someone had injected lead into my blood. I couldn't even push myself into a sitting position.

I didn't even try to look up when the door opened sometime. If it was Marcus or Rebekah, I didn't intend on giving them the satisfaction of fun, feisty Katya. They'd have to deal or just go away.

"Katya, are you awake?" Adam's voice said as the dim lights in the room got brighter.

"Adam?" I croaked. Damn, even my voice was weak. I really needed to die or get out of here.

"Yeah." He responded as I forced myself to sit up and face him. My body screamed at me to just stay still, but I didn't listen. Adam was one of the few people in this play who was actually nice to me. I wasn't going to ignore him because my body didn't want to listen.

He was wearing a black t-shirt and black jeans; the typical bouncer uniform. He was what humans would call a floater. He helped out where it was needed every night. I guess one of the bouncers hadn't shown up. Adam was carrying a tray with a couple slices of bread, eggs, strawberries, watermelon and a large glass of fruit juice on it.

"Do you have permission to give me that?" I asked knowing most times he snuck me food without permission. It was something that could get him fired if he were caught, but he didn't care. For some reason, he felt like he needed to take care of me.

"Actually, yes." He said, kneeling in front of the cage. "Marcus is going away for a couple nights, so Rebekah wants you strong enough to provide her with some entertainment."

"Lovely." I replied sarcastically. Adam opened a locked hatch on the side of the cage and slid the tray in. "And what if I don't eat it?" I said crossing my arms over my chest.

"Then I'm sure Rebekah will enjoy force feeding it to you." He replied sadly. "I'd rather you not have to go through that when you could have an enjoyable meal with enjoyable company."

If it were under any other circumstances, I would've thought he might be flirting with me, but that wasn't possible. He may have been nice, but he still worked for my captors. Until that changed, I didn't want to even consider the idea that we could be more than friends.

"Besides, I was told not to go back up until you ate everything on this tray, so can you please make my job a little easier." He stuck out his lower lip in a mock pout and I couldn't help the little giggle. "You would be keeping both of us out of trouble," This line was said with a little flutter of his eyelashes.

"Fine." I said picking up the fork and shoving eggs into my mouth. I really hated seeing him get in trouble because of me. "So, out of curiosity, did you know about the cage?" I asked around my mouthful of eggs. For some reason, I had to know the answer to that.

"I knew they were going to do something to keep you locked up, but I didn't know what." I nodded, trying to be angry with him, but finding it very difficult.

Despite the fact that he was always kind to me, I should hate this man with every fiber of my being. He may have been taking care of me, but he wasn't doing anything to get me out of here. In my mind, he should be just as bad as my captors, but I couldn't make myself feel that way.

There was something sad and lonely about him. It seemed to me that he needed a friend as badly as I did. That's why I couldn't bring myself to hate him.

"I wish I could get you out of here." He told me. "I wish I could get us both out of here."

This wasn't the first time he alluded to the fact that he wasn't here by choice. In fact, I was pretty sure he hated Marcus and Rebekah as much as I did.

"Then why are you here?" I asked unable to stop myself. Every single person who worked for those two monsters were here by choice; it was how they got away with what they did. There was no one to run to the authorities, because no one wanted to leave.

I was slowly beginning to see that Adam wasn't like that. Adam hated it here as much as I did. So why didn't he just leave? The two never forced anyone, except me, to stay against their will.

"Like everyone else here, I have nowhere else to go." He explained. "My family was killed during a Strigoi attack on our village. I just barely escaped, but the Strigoi had burned my house to the ground. I missed my chance to go to one of our vampire schools. I was starving on the street when Rebekah found me. She offered me the same things, she offers everyone. It was either accept the offer or die. I did what I had to do to survive. I regret it, every day seeing what Rebekah and Marcus do, especially to you, but if I leave, I know I'll die. Besides, if I leave, they'll be no one to take care of you."

"Don't worry about me." I said taking a bite of my toast. "I've already accepted the fact that I'm going to die by the hands of vampires. By leaving, you'd just be spending up the process."

"Which is exactly why I'm not going anywhere."

I couldn't help but smile as I continued to eat my iron rich meal. I didn't know why those words made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, but I was definitely glad he was planning to stick around for a while.

We were silent for so long the beeping of his pager caused me to jump and foot in the air and nearly knock my juice over. He chuckled as he pulled the pager out of his pocket.

"They need me back upstairs." He sighed. "Can I trust you to eat all of that?"

I nodded popping a strawberry into my mouth. He smiled, stood, and headed out the door.

I continued eating my food as I realized that, for the first time since the nightmare with Dimitri began, I didn't want to die. As long as living meant seeing Adam every day.

**ROSE **

I held the drink in a shaking hand watching Dimitri as he drained his own glass in one long drink. Watching him, I was afraid of what he might say for the first time since he accepted that he was worthy of me. This had to be something really bad if he thought we both needed liquor to get through it, especially since he was the poster child for sobriety and making the right decisions. The fact that he was encouraging us underage young adults to drink meant this was going to bad. I wasn't sure I even wanted to hear it anymore.

Dimitri took a deep breath and began his story.

"Remember what I told you about how being Strigoi would make our sexual relationship that much more intense and amazing?" He asked me. I blushed slightly, but nodded. "Well, that was more than just a pitch. It was the truth. Despite the fact that Strigoi lose their humanity, everything else is so much more intense. Emotions are stronger and senses are heightened. They see things better than even Moroi, and their emotions…" he shook his head and covered his eyes with his hand. "Well, you saw some of it firsthand."

I nodded. "I remember when you were angry with me, you were always beyond rage, no matter how minor my infraction."

"Yes, and that's how it is with all of their emotions." He continued. "They simply choose to focus on anger, because it is the least human emotion. Anger is animalistic, so it is easier to deal with when it is as strong as it is for them, but they do feel other emotions, or at least, I did."

The sadness in my tone made me want to go to him. I wanted to wrap my arms around him and tell him everything was going to be okay. I wanted to tell him that I was here for him through anything, and we'd get through whatever it was he was dealing with. We'd get through it together.

I was on the verge of doing just that when he held up his hand.

"Don't." He said. "Not until you hear everything. Not until you know the monster you want to cuddle."

He words turned my body to ice as I stared at him. His eyes were bloodshot as if he was trying very hard not cry. This wasn't the man who I had fallen in love with, but it wasn't the monster that held me captive either. He was a broken man who truly felt like whatever he had to say was going destroy my feelings for him. I had to show him that nothing he did would ever change that. Something that I had been trying to do for weeks.

Ignoring his request, I slid myself out of the chair and went to him. I curled myself into his lap, wrapping my arms around his neck, and burying my face into the crook of it.

"Whatever it is, we will get through it. I promise." I whispered into his neck. "I'll help you get through it. I won't ever turn away from you. How many times do I have to tell you that?"

"Please Roza," He whispered back. "Don't make that promise until I've finished talking."

I simply snuggled myself closer to him. Now was not the time to argue, now was the time to listen and help him in the best way I could. He was willing to open up about this, even though it was obviously killing him, I was going to do my best to listen.

"What other emotions were you feeling?" Lissa asked from her spot behind the desk. I had gotten good enough at reading her without the bond to know that she felt as horrible as I did about what he was going through right now.

"Mostly my feelings for Rose." He answered stroking my hair. I got the sense that he was treasuring his time with me. Did he really think I wasn't going to stand by him. "My love for her, but also my lust. As you know, my transformation happened just hours after our first time. It was the most incredible thing I've ever felt as a dhampir, and those feelings lingered. I wanted to feel it, again but, as a Strigoi, I knew I shouldn't be feeling that way, so I fought it hard. Until one night a man, I don't even know his name, caught me feeding on a prostitute."

He paused and took a deep breath. I pulled away from him a little, grabbed his free hand, and placed a gentle kiss on it. I knew he needed all the support he could get, but I didn't know how else to give it to him. He smiled taking my hand in his own and rubbing it over his cheek.

"I love you, Roza." He said.

"I love you, too."

"God, I hope that's still true when I finish this story." He said, keeping my hand in his. "I was simply going to kill him to prevent him from telling others about me, but then he started begging. As a Strigoi, his pleads shouldn't matter to me, but his words caught my attention. I can still remember his words: _"Please." _He cried._ "Don't kill me. I beg you. I'm the only person my daughter has left in the world. I'll do anything just spare me, please." _

I felt like someone had just dumped a bucket of ice water over my head as I realized where this was going. My body tensed as I fought the instinct to push myself away from Dimitri and get as far from him as possible.

"_You love him, and he needs you." _I reminded myself as my mind shuffled through horrid images of what happened to this guy's daughter. _"He wasn't himself when he did those things. Isn't that what you always tell him?" _This was different, though. I wasn't sure how, yet, but I knew it was.

"You can go sit over there if you want." Dimitri said releasing my hand. "I just ask that you listen to the rest before you run away."

I didn't move from my spot on his lap. God knows, I wanted to, but he sounded so devastated that I couldn't make myself do it. Besides, I did still love him after this, didn't I?

"Just keep taking." I said slowly with little emotion. I was too stunned by the direction of this conversation to decide how I was feeling. All I knew was that I wanted him to finish, so Lissa and I could analyze everything.

"I told him to introduce me to her, and I'd consider sparing him. At the time, I didn't know what I was going to do. All I knew was that, I was about to meet a young girl who could possibly sate the lust I'd been feeling for weeks." I swallowed bile and blinked away tears as I nodded for him to continue. "But she looked so much like you, Roza."

"No." I shook my head unable to believe what he was saying. "Dimitri, I…" I started to say pulling away from him even more. He pressed his finger to my lip.

"Please, just let me finish."

I swallowed again and swiped a few tears that had escaped. What had he done to this poor girl just because she looked like me?

"Her name was Katya, and I killed her father. Then I took her home to be my play thing." He stopped and swallowed hard. If I hadn't been so lost in my emotions, I would've wondered if he two was forcing down bile or the urge to cry. As it was, my mind was going a mile a minute with images of him raping and torturing this poor girl.

Needless to say, I couldn't stay on his lap any longer. Instead, I slid to the floor where I put my head between my legs trying to control my own emotions until this was over. I felt a gentle hand on my shoulder a few seconds later and looked up to see Lissa standing there with a gentle smile.

"You can get through this, Rose. I'm right here." She pulled me into her arms a good distance away from the couch. Dimitri didn't try to come to me. I couldn't decide if I liked that or not. Part of me needed his comfort, but the other part didn't want him anywhere near me. I collect myself long enough to look back at him.

He looked like he too had been crying. Christian had a comforting had on his shoulder, but he too looked like he might be having a hard time control his dinner. Perhaps Dimitri didn't tell him as much as I thought.

"Just finish it." I said practically growled.

"I kept her locked up in a closet." Dimitri continued. "She was always naked and in shackles. I gave her enough food and water to survive and never let her out of the closet. I go to her when I needed a relief for my anger or lust. It was helping me deal with my lingering feelings for you."

The words caused more disgust to flow through me. This poor girl suffered because of me. She suffered because Dimitri couldn't let go of his feelings for me. So, on some twisted level, this was my fault, and I hated him for it. I never thought I'd say that about Dimitri, but in this moment, I hated him.

"Then I found out you were hunting me and thought maybe I could get you to join me. Then I could get rid of the cheap imitation and you and I could rule the world together." I flinched at the word cheap imitation. That poor girl. "Of course, I had to keep her around until I convinced you to make the transformation."

My body tensed as I suddenly got a horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach. I really wasn't going to like what he said next, I could just feel it. Lissa's arms tightened around me, but I could feel her body trembling. She was just as upset about this as I was.

"What do you mean 'keep her around'?" I asked trying to keep my voice even.

Dimitri took another deep breath and slid to the floor, so we were eye level.

"Being around you all that time without giving in to my lust for you was difficult." He explained. "I needed an outlet."

My sadness suddenly became disgust and rage, and I pulled myself away from Lissa to get right in Dimitri face.

"You mean to tell me that, even though, I was lying in that bed willing to give you anything you wanted, you would go rape an innocent little girl?" I asked.

"I'm not proud of it, but yes. The whole point to get you turned on and walking away like that was to convince you to become a Strigoi. As that monster, though, I couldn't handle constantly denying myself you, so I took it out on the next best thing."

It was those last words that suddenly broke the dame. I could no longer hold the bile at bay.

"I think I'm going to be sick." I pushed myself into a standing position and ran to the trash can next to Lissa's desk. I made it just in time for my dinner to make a reappearance. I was regurgitating for five minutes or more before I realized Dimitri held my hair in a ponytail at the nape of neck and was rubbing my back with his free hand.

"Get your hands off me." I growled, jerking away from him and wiping my mouth with the back of my hands. "I don't want you touching me right now."

"Roza, please." Dimitri whispered holding his hands up in surrender. "I'm sorry."

"I don't think sorry can fix this, Dimitri." I answered shaking my head and backing away from him.

"I knew this was a bad idea." He said before walking out of the study.

I flinched as the door slammed wondering if I could ever forgive him for this.

**A/N: Well, what do you guys think? I know what is happening between Katya and Adam is a little obvious, but I needed to find a way to give her some hope. Adam is what is going to keep her going until the others get there to help her. Anyway, I hope you liked. Please, review. **


	6. Sensible Cells, Kindly Shut Up

**A/N: So I have had a couple people comment about how Rose's reaction to Dimitri's story was a bit OOC for her. I agree, maybe it was. However, I have always felt that Richelle made Rose a little too forgiving. Yes, I know it wasn't Dimitri, but it doesn't change the fact that what he did hurt her. I think Richelle could've acknowledged that a little more. Besides, what Dimitri did to Katya was way worse than anything he did to Rose. Also, Rose is confused and a little scared. Her feelings will be better explained in this chapter. I hope you all enjoy it. **

**ROSE**

I leaned against the bookshelf in Lissa's study trying to get control over my emotions. I swiped at the tears in my eyes with the sleeve of my shirt and took deep breaths. Of all the things I expected to hear in this conversation, the truth was a million times worse, and I wasn't sure I could handle it.

I was only semi-aware of Lissa and Christian having a whispered argument over by the desk, but it didn't seem important enough to pay attention to. No, the important thing was figuring out what I was going to do about this situation with Dimitri, and how I felt about him.

Was it wrong to still love him after hearing this? And what about that poor girl whose life he destroyed? Would it be right for me to cuddle up with him after knowing what he did to her? Would I even want to?

Those questions ran through my mind, and I had no idea how to answer them. I was sure I still loved him, but I felt guilty for it.

The door to the study opened and closed again, and I breathed a sigh of relief. Christian was gone. Now, I could talk to Lissa and figure out how to deal with my feelings.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Christian voice said from across the room. I looked up, surprised to see that Lissa was the one who left. I would've asked him why he had stayed, but his words added anger to my already churning emotions.

"Christian, I don't need your attitude right now." I snapped. "So if you aren't going to say something, helpful then leave."

"Oh, I've got plenty of helpful things to say, but you aren't gonna like any of them." He responded, coming to stand beside me.

"So is there a chance, you won't say them?"

"Nope, because you need to hear them."

I sighed and slid to the floor. It would've taken too much energy that I didn't have to walk back to the armchair. Christian slid down beside me.

"First of all, I think you need to know how hard it was for him to tell you this." He began. "It took him five glasses of whiskey to get through the story with me, but that wasn't because he cared about my reaction. No, he was afraid that I was going to tell him there was no chance you'd be able to forgive him for this. He's so afraid this was going to be the thing to make you stop loving him. And I stupidly assured him that wouldn't be the case. I told him you loved him and nothing would ever change that. I honestly didn't believe you would make a liar out of me."

"I never said I didn't love him, any more." I snapped.

"You didn't have to." Christian gestured to the garbage can. "Your display a few minutes ago said it all."

I gave him my best give-me-a-break-look.

"Well, I'm sorry hearing that the man I love and am currently having sex spent weeks raping an innocent girl, because she looked like me made me lose my lunch. You sure looked like you were having a hard time holding onto your dinner. I think you even turned a little green."

"That's not the part I was talking about." He replied. "Hearing those things would've been enough to churn even the strongest of stomachs. No, I was referring to the things you said to him; the way you rejected his comfort. Those things said I hate you louder than if you had shouted at him."

I sighed. He was right. I handled the situation wrong, but could you really blame me? Dimitri's story had stirred up so many confusing emotions in me. I couldn't be expected to wrap my arms around him and tell him everything was going to be okay. I had to figure out what I was feeling first.

"I know. I should've handled it better." I said, trying to keep my voice from cracking. I didn't want to fall apart in front of Christian. I was sure he wouldn't know how to handle it, which is why I wished Lissa had been the one to stay. "I hurt him, I know, but look at it from my point of view for a minute.

"I have loved Dimitri since the moment I met him—even though I wouldn't have admitted it back then—and I still love him after everything that I've heard tonight. But this is different from anything he has done as a Strigoi."

"How?" He asked.

"Because he destroyed a girl's life, Christian." I answered, running my hand through my hair. "He didn't just kill her like he did his other victims. And he didn't kidnap her to use as bait for me. He used her as an unwilling replacement for me." I swiped hard at the tears that were threatening to poor down my face. God, why didn't Lissa stay? "He kept her locked up for his pleasure. Not even giving her the option of death.

"Yes, I still love him, but how can I go on living the way we are? Knowing what I know? How I am I supposed to kiss him? Or lie with in bed with him? Or have sex with him? Without thinking about her and what he did to her? How I am supposed to tell him I love him without seeing her face in my head, and imagining all the things he did to break her?"

"By reminding yourself, that it wasn't really him, Rose." Christian said, putting a hand on my shoulder. "Because it wasn't. Yes, it looked like him, but it didn't think like him. The dhampir Dimitri would never hurt someone like that. The dhampir Dimitri would kill anyone who hurt someone like that."

"Could you do that?" I asked. "If Lissa all of a sudden decided to do that to some poor teenage boy, could you just act like it didn't happen?"

"If it was because she wasn't herself at the time, yes." Christian said.

"That's easy to say when you're not sitting in my position." I snorted.

"Nothing about this is going to be easy, Rose, for any of us, especially not for Dimitri. That's why he needs you and your love. He hated himself for everything he did as a Strigoi, you know that. He hates himself even more for what he did to Katya. And no matter how hard we try, I don't think he's ever going to stop hating himself, but he's learning to live with it. He's starting to understand that he is worthy of forgiveness, and that's because of you, Rose.

"Your love for him and your ability to forgive him for those things are what keep him going. If he loses those things, I don't know if he'll be able to survive it. Don't take them from him."

"I do love him, but how can I reconcile my feeling for him after knowing what he did? He ripped a girl's life apart in the worst possible way. How can we move forward?" I asked.

Christian shrugged.

"Just tell him you love him, and go from there. This isn't a problem with an easy solution. It's gonna take time, but isn't your love worth it?"

"Of course it is."

"Then tell him that, and let everything else fall into place."

I nodded at his suggestion and did something very uncharacteristic for me. I laid my head on his shoulder. We sat in silence for a long moment as I turned over everything he just said. He was right. This wasn't something the words sorry or love could fix with the snap of a finger. It was going to take time. I imagined there would be a lot of tears and angry words, but Dimitri and I loved each other. We would get through it together. I just had to let him know that I was still on bored.

I couldn't help the laugh that escaped when I realized Christian had been the one to talk me through this one. It was amazing how far we had come since he first started hanging out with Lissa.

"What's so funny?" He asked.

"Just thinking about how far we've come since you and Lissa got together." I answered. "And I'm amazed at how much you've changed."

"Really?"

"Yes. Back then you were a snarky asshole who I wished I could punch in the face." I explained with another little chuckle.

"And now?"

"Well, you are still a snarky asshole who I wish I could punch in the face." I laughed again as his mouth dropped open and he placed his hand over his heart in a mock heart expression. "But I now count you as one of the people I would do anything for. You really are a good friend Christian, and sometimes I don't know what I'd do if you weren't in my life."

"Just don't tell anyone, okay? I've got a reputation to keep up." He laughed. I gave him a gentle punch on the shoulder.

"Your secret's safe with me."

"Good, now go talk to Dimitri."

**KATYA**

As promised, I ate everything on my plate, even though I started to feel overstuffed close to the end. I didn't want to get Adam into any trouble, but I had also learned not to turn down food when it was offered. My weeks in captivity had taught me that I never knew where my next meal was coming from. Besides, I needed to be at full strength if I was expected to handle Rebekah tonight. Marcus may have been brutal with the sex, but Rebekah was a million times worse with general torture. She was a horribly sadistic vampire, and I wanted nothing more than to rip her pretty blond hair right out of her head.

I knew the chances of that happening were extremely slim, so I'd settle for giving her a hard time when she was having fun. I don't know what it was about Adam's visit but, all of a sudden, I wanted to fight. I wanted to go down kicking and screaming. It was a feeling I hadn't had since a couple days after Dimitri took me prisoner. I guess if Adam was going to fight for me, then the least I could do was fight for me too.

The door opened again only a few short minutes after I finished my meal. I looked up hoping to see Adam coming back to give me a little more company. I was disappointed to see Rebekah walking in and closing the door behind her.

I took a deep breath and mentally prepared myself for what was to come. I would not allow her to break me anymore than she already had.

"You ate." Rebekah smirked as she walked over to the cage and discovered my empty plate. "I must admit, I'm a little disappointed about that. I was so looking forward to tying you down and force feeding it to you. No matter." She clapped as her smirk grew wider. "There are a million other fun things we can do while Marcus is away. But first, I think I need to change into something a little more comfortable."

She walked over to the large oak dresser on the other side of the room and swapped her cocktail dress for a pair of sweat pants and a tank top. She also pulled her hair back into a messy bun. Great, she only pulled her hair back when she meant business. I guess I really was in for some trouble tonight.

When she finished, she walked over to the cage and unlatched it. "Come." She said as if I were a dog. The me before my chat with Adam would've just done it, but if I was going to fight, I may as well start now, right. I crossed my arms over my chest and just glared at her.

She snorted. "Marcus will be so happy to know that our feisty little pet is back, but I'm not in the mood to deal with her. So get out here, now." She growled.

"Make me." I said.

She snorted again but reached into the cage, grabbing a handful of my hair and yanking me out of the cage. I squeaked a little in pain, but didn't give her the satisfaction of a bigger reaction. She dragged me over to the bed, I scrambled to keep up, gritting my teeth through the pain shooting through my scalp. She released me, and sat on the bed.

"Now, how about a proper greeting?" She said sitting on the bed and putting her feet in front of my face.

I swallowed in disgust as I stared at her foot. This was something she and Marcus had me do every time they played. They said it reinforced the idea of my position in life, and I hated it.

"Do it, now." Rebekah said noticing my hesitance. "Or I will make you kiss something else, and I can promise it will be more unpleasant."

I had pretty good idea of what she was talking about, and if I had to choose between her ass and her feet, I would choose her feet every time. At least, she couldn't suffocate me with her feet. I leaned forward and placed a few gentle kisses on her.

"Good girl." She said and I could hear the smirk in her voice. "Keep going until I tell you to stop."

**DIMITRI**

I walked out of Lissa's study unsure about how I felt about Rose's reaction. Sure, it was everything that I had expected it would be, but I was still extremely hurt by it.

I knew this pill would be a little harder for her to swallow than anything else I did as a Strigoi, but I had been waiting for her to remind me that I wasn't myself back then. I was waiting to hear the words she whispered to me every time we talked about my time as a Strigoi.

"It's alright." She would whisper. "It wasn't the dhampir who did those things. It was a monster, and the monster's gone now. It can't hurt anyone anymore. You are Dimitri, the dhampir, again. None of that other stuff matters."

Then she would tell me she loved me and hold me while I cried. I hadn't expected this conversation to end that way. I knew it was too serious an infraction for her to overlook, especially the reason why I did it. How could she ever forgive me for hurting someone like that? How could she forgive me for replacing her with an unwilling victim? No, I hadn't expected her to do any of that, but I had hope.

Christian had given me hope that she would be able to forgive me for this. He had convinced me that our love would survive, but I realized that was a false hope. The monster had gone too far this time, and I knew it. There was no way Rose would forgive me for this.

True, I had expected this would be the way things would turn out, but that didn't mean it didn't hurt. The fear and hate in her eyes when she looked at me were like a bullet through my heart. Rose hated me. I couldn't blame her, but God, did it hurt. It hurt more than the months at St. Vladimir's when we had to pretend like we didn't love each other. Hell, it hurt worse than the weeks after Lissa restored me when I tried to convince her that I didn't love her anymore. It even hurt more than seeing her with Adrian Ivashkov.

Because, through all of that, I knew that she loved me, and if Rose still loved me, I could make it through anything. Now, though, I didn't know if I could even live through the next hour. Rose hated me.

Her words rang in made head as I made my out of Lissa's "house" and headed toward the gym. _"Don't touch me!" _She had said. I never thought I'd hear her say those words and they were like a razor in to my skin.

"Dimitri, wait?" I heard Lissa's voice just as I made it out the door. I stopped surprised that she had chosen to come after me. I thought for sure she'd be comforting Rose and talking about all the ways they hated me.

"Do you want to talk about it?" She asked catching up to me.

"There's nothing to talk about." I said continuing my walk toward the gym. "Rose hates me. Nothing else matters."

Lissa sighed and linked her arm with mine. It was meant to be a comforting gesture, and I appreciated it. Unfortunately, nothing could comfort me right now.

"She doesn't hate you." Lissa answered. "None of us do."

"You didn't see the look in her eyes. She hates me." I argued.

"Maybe, or maybe she just needs time to process everything." Lissa said. "This is a lot, even for Rose. I'm still having a hard time processing it. Just give her some time, okay. She'll come around."

"What if she doesn't?" I asked.

"We will cross that bridge when we come to it." Lissa said as we entered the building that housed the gym.

"It won't be worth it without her."

"Don't say that. It's always worth it."

"Maybe." I thought about Katya living in that hellhole with Marcus and Rebekah. Perhaps, it would be worth moving forward if only to get her out of there. I didn't know what I'd do without Rose after that, but I'd "cross that bridge when I came to it."

"Why do I get the feeling there's more to the story?" Lissa asked. Her ability to read people, especially me never ceased to amaze me. I didn't think anyone would ever know me better than Rose, but Lissa was a close second, and I always found myself wondering why. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that she saved me.

"Because there is. A lot more, actually." I told her. We had entered the gym area by now and I went immediately to the sand bag.

"Tell me." Lissa said, sitting down on the weight bench beside me.

I took a deep breath, and launched into the rest of the story while giving the sand bag the worst beating of its life.

**KATYA**

I continued to kiss Rebekah's feet for hours until she grabbed me by the hair and yanked me into a kneeling position.

"Don't move." She growled, walking over to the closet and pulling out a decent length of rope. "Marcus my like it when you fight, but I find it extremely annoying. Besides, I like my victims helpless." She laughed as she tied my hands behind my back then, using the same length of rope, tied my ankles together. I was completely helpless in my kneeling position. "We'll leave your mouth open, though," She continued tapping my lips with a perfectly manicured nail. "I like listen to you whimper and scream. However, I don't think you really need your eyes for anything." She chuckled placing a blindfold over my eyes.

My heart rate picked up as I struggled a little against the ropes. It was one thing to be tied up and helpless, but a completely different one to not know what was coming. If you didn't know what was coming, you couldn't defend yourself against it. I didn't like that at all.

"Now," Rebekah laughed at my increased heart rate. "Marcus asked me to make sure you were punished for your disrespectful attitude this afternoon, so that's what we are going to do first."

Before I could even react to those words, I was gasping for air. It wasn't that I couldn't breathe. I mean, my lungs were working just fine, but it was like someone was taking the air away from me. Just like that, I understood what was going on.

Rebekah was using her control over air on me. She was the only vampire I had met who could do this, but it was her favorite form of torture. I could actually hear her laughing as I struggled to get air in my lungs. I even tried to form words to beg her to stop, but it wasn't working.

"I'm sorry." Rebekah said in mock sympathy. "Are you having trouble breathing? Let me help you with that."

I felt the air return to me immediate area and gulped it like a man gulped water in a desert. Only it was coming back to fast and strong. I was getting too much. I could feel it pressing against my mouth and nose making it impossible to get a decent breath. After a while I started gagging on it.

Rebekah continued to laugh as she smothered me with the air.

"This is just too much fun." She said releasing me. I gasped for air as she continued to laugh, but she wasn't finished, yet.

Even as I gasped for breath, I felt an insane pressure squeezing my entire body. It felt like she was making all the air converge around me and squeeze me. It felt like someone was punching me in the gut and hitting me in the head over and over.

"Please, stop." I begged unable to take it anymore. "It hurts."

"Good." Rebekah laughed as she went back to depriving me air.

**ROSE **

I knew exactly where I would find Dimitri when I left Christian. We were too much alike for him to be anywhere else, really. When we were angry or frustrated we hit the gym Usually, the sand bag where we could imagine beating the person causing our aggravation.

Sure enough, when I walked in, there he was beating the sand bag while taking to Lissa. She had a look of concern and determination on her face, and I wondered what they were talking about. I would have to find out later, but I had more important things to worry about right now.

I had to make sure Dimitri understood how I was feeling right now. I leaned against the door and crossed my arms over my chest.

"Hey, Comrade." I called across the room. What better way to show him how I feel than using my old nickname for him?

Dimitri froze at the sound of my voice, but Lissa looked right at me. Like I said, I had gotten very good at reading her over the few weeks without the bond. There was a question in her eyes as she stared at me. I nodded slightly.

"I'll leave you two to talk." She said. "Fill her about the rest, and we will hash out the details together."

Dimitri, who had yet to look at me, nodded. Lissa rose, gave him a kiss on the cheek and met me at the door.

"Take it easy on him." She whispered before leaving us alone.

"It would be a lot easy to talk, Comrade, if you would look at me." I said trying to put as much Rose attitude into the sentence as possible.

My sentence seemed to thaw him out a little. He turned to me slowly and met my gaze. The fear and sadness in his eyes broke my heart. It hurt to know that I had been the one to put it there. He flashed me a small, sad smile.

"It used to make me so mad when you called me that." He said as he walked toward me. "Now, I'm relieved to hear it. I didn't think you'd even want to speak to me again, let alone be affectionate with me."

I sighed, meeting him halfway.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have reacted like that."

"Don't be." He responded. "It was nothing more than I expected, and nothing less than what I deserved."

"No." I shook my head. "You don't deserve to be treated like that."

"You know what I did." He argued.

"No, you didn't do that, Dimitri. It was the monster, and he's gone now."

"You don't believe that. I saw it in your eyes back there." He gestured in the general direction of Lissa's place. "You think that's still me."

"No, I don't."

"But you're scared and disgusted by what I did."

"Yes, but mostly, I'm confused, Dimitri."

"What do you mean?" He asked sinking onto a machine that worked the pectoral muscles. I wanted to go to him and put my arms around him, but I wasn't sure I was ready for that just, yet. Instead, I sunk onto the floor beside him. It was the best I could do at the moment.

"I still love you, Dimitri, you need to that." I said. "But I know I shouldn't, not after this. I can't imagine ever not loving you, though."

"So what's that mean?" he questioned.

I reached up and took his head in mind.

"It means we do what we always do: Keep on loving each other and figure the rest out later."

**A/N: Well, what do you guys think? I'm sorry if it is kind of lame. I wasn't originally going to put this chapter in, but I thought you guys needed to see the reasons behind Rose's reaction and understand what she was really feeling. I hope this helps. Also, only one more chapter of talking before they take action. **

**I have one question, though. Lissa will be asking for volunteers to go to Russia and help with Katya's rescue. Among the volunteers will be Eddie, Abe, and Janine. I'm not sure who else I want to include. If you guys have any suggestions, let me know. I was thinking Adrian, but I'm not sure he will be in the right mental state, yet. Let me know what you guys think. **


	7. Hear Me Cry

**A/N: Sorry this has taken me so long get up, but I recently got addicted to True Blood and had to spend a couple weeks catching up on the series. Now, I am back in the writing business. There isn't much to say about this chapter, except that I will be explaining why Rebekah is able to use her air magic on Katya, and I will be bringing in a few of more of our favorite characters. Hope you all enjoy. **

**DIMITRI**

"Lissa said there's more to the story." Rose asked hesitantly after a few moments of silent reflection.

I was relieved to hear that she didn't hate me and thrilled that she was sitting beside me and holding my hand. It was more than I expected and definitely more than I deserved, but I couldn't help feeling a little sad. Some small part of me needed to be held by the woman I loved and told that everything was going to be okay. I knew that bit was going to take time, though.

"Yes." I answered. "A lot more actually."

"Then why don't we talk a long walk, and you can fill me in." She suggested, pushing herself off the floor. "I need some air right now, anyway."

"Okay." I said, allowing her to pull me up. I didn't think walking would make the rest of the story easier to tell, but I had already put my Roza through enough. If she wanted to walk, then we would walk.

She didn't let go of my hand as we headed out the door, but I could feel there was now a wall between us. I would do everything in my power to knock down that wall, including telling her the rest of this horrible tale. I just hoped she would be willing to help me.

"I suppose the best place to begin the rest of the story is the night you staked me." I began, letting her lead me toward the little park in the center of court. I felt her flinch at the reminder of that night and gave her hand a comforting squeeze. "I washed up a few miles away from the bridge and managed to pull the stake out. It took a few hours. Every move was agony. It was during those hours that I decided I was going to kill you."

I heard her sharp intake of breath and regretted my words. We had never spoken about that night or the events that immediately followed. It was still too raw for both of us. Yet, I couldn't get through the rest of the story about Katya without mentioning it.

"What did you do to her?" Rose asked slowly, stopping to face me. I had been wrong. The mentioning of that night on the bridge hadn't been what upset her. She was worried about what happened to Katya when I decided to leave Russia.

"Don't worry." I told her, running my fingers along her cheek. I did my best to ignore the way she flinched at my touch. I had accepted the fact that it was going to take time for her to get over what I had done, and I imagined there was always going to be a part of her that was afraid of me now. She was still talking to me, though, and that's what mattered. I wasn't going to ruin that by getting upset over something as simple as a little flinch. "I didn't kill her."

"Good." She continued leading me along the trail toward the center of the park.

"I did much worse." I sighed as I remembered the look of fear and panic in Katya's eyes as she realized what I was going to do with her. I felt a twinge in my heart as I remembered the way she begged me to kill her, and I just made her put on those shoes and come with me. How could I have been such a monster? "I sold her to a couple of friends of mine. Friends I knew would get "good use" out of her." I swallowed hard blinking tears from my eyes.

"And by "good use", you mean the same use you got out of her?" Rose questioned.

"No, Roza, these people would've done much worse to her than I did."

**KATYA**

Rebekah laughed as I laid on my side gasping for breath. She had finally stopped torturing me with her control over the air but was now circling me like a vulture circling its prey.

"You are so pathetic." She said kicking me hard in the stomach. "And believe me, I know pathetic. I pick people up off the streets for a living, after all, but you, you're worse than all of them combined."

I refused to cry as she continued kicking me all over my body. I did my best to curl into a ball and protect the important parts, but it was impossible with the way I was tied. It didn't help that I was still blindfolded and couldn't see where her attacks were coming from.

"I mean, at least the people I pick up off the streets are trying to do to better themselves. You just sit around fighting the inevitable. You bring this upon yourself."

"Go to hell." I gasped after a particularly brutal kick to the back.

The kicks stopped, but I felt pain shooting through my scalp again as I was lifted off the floor. I flinched as her lips brushed against my ear.

"Hasn't anyone told you?" She whispered. "This is hell, and Marcus and I are the devils in charge. Now, I'm going to untie you and we are going to play a little game."

I gulped. I hated Rebekah's games almost as much as I hated Marcus raping me. They were often painful and humiliating for me, and I never won any of them.

She shoved me back to the floor and unknotted the ropes as quickly as she tied them. She then removed my blindfold and gave me one final kick in the back.

"Stand up." She ordered. I did as she said, well aware of the fact that I was still completely naked. I crossed my arms over my chest and bent forward a little. True, she and Marcus had seen everything, but it was never by my choice and I always hated baring it all to them. "Now, that won't do." She chastised swatting my arms. "Stand up straight and drop your arms. I want to see what's mine."

I did as she said fighting the tears of embarrassment. She had already gotten too many tears from me during this session. I'd be damned before I'd let her get any more out of me.

"Good dog." She patted me on the head condescendingly. "Now, this game is called "Rebekah Says." The rules are similar to "Simon Says," but if you screw up," She walked to the closet and pulled out one of Marcus's studded belts. "You will be punished. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Mistress." I said keeping my eyes trained on the floor.

"Good." She smiled. "Let's start with something simple. Rebekah says get down on your knees." I immediately drop to my knees. I had been beaten with one of Marcus's belts before, and I did not like it. "Good puppy." She laughed. "Rebekah says put your face in the floor and your ass in the air." Again, I did as she said without any hesitation and my obedience was rewarded with another laugh. "I'm sorry, but this position is too perfect. Rebekah says ask me to hit you."

"Please, hit me." I said into the carpet. I was going to get hit either way, but I figured it'd be better if I had done what she asked. I felt the bite of the belt hit me across the ass mere seconds after I asked. I couldn't help the scream that escaped my lips.

"Tut, tut." Rebekah chuckled. "Rebekah didn't tell you to scream." She brought the belt down hard against my ass again, and it took all my willpower not to cry out again. "That's better. Hmm? What do I want you to do next? I know. Rebekah says beg me to let you leave."

I knew no amount of begging was going to convince her to let me leave, but the humiliation of begging was better than being hit with the belt again.

"Please, let me leave, Mistress." I said into the floor. "Please. If you let me go, I'll do anything. Just let me leave please."

"Not very impressive." She said a second before I felt the belt bite into my back this time. Again, I fought to keep the scream in. "Rebekah says try a little harder."

"Please." I said allowing myself to let out the sobs I'd been holding in. "I don't know how much more of this I can take. Just let me leave, and I won't tell anybody about this. I won't tell anybody about vampires or what you did to me. I just want my old life back. Please."

I didn't realize until that moment how desperately I wanted her to let me go. True, I had nowhere to go and nothing to do, but living on the streets and dying of starvation was better than what I was being put through on a daily basis. I just wanted to get away from vampires forever. Was that too much to ask?

I knew this was all part of Rebekah's game, though. There was no way she was going to let me leave. I provided too much entertainment for her and Marcus.

"Better. Now, Rebekah wants to see you crawl, so crawl." I started to crawl, but was stopped by another whack with the belt. I bit my tongue to stop the scream this time. "Rebekah says you must crawl like the worthless piece of dirt that you are. Get down on your stomach."

I dropped to my stomach and started pushing myself forward. The carpet scraped against the old wounds on my stomach and I cringed through the pain.

"Rebekah says turn around and crawl towards me."

I did as she said grateful that no one else was around to witness this humiliation. I crawled to her, but she took a few steps back.

"Rebekah says a little bit farther." I pushed myself closer to her, but she moved back to or three more times before she was satisfied. "Rebekah says lick my feet."

I did praying my humiliation was almost over.

**ROSE**

Dimitri's words scared and disgusted me. What could possibly be worse than kidnapping and repeatedly raping an innocent young girl? I had always thought perverts like that were the worst kind of scum on the planet. I felt the same way about Strigoi Dimitri, who had paid for his crimes with his life. Dhampir Dimitri was still trying to atone for it, and I couldn't feel anything but acceptance of that. Still, I couldn't imagine anything worse than being raped. What could these "friends" of Strigoi Dimitri possibly be doing to hurt this girl?

"No offense, but what could possibly be worse than what you did to her?" I asked.

Dimitri let out a heavy sigh and pulled me down onto the bench beside him.

"In the world of Strigoi, it can get a lot worse than what I did." He explained squeezing my hand tighter. He hadn't let go of it since I grabbed it back in the gym. I was sure he was terrified that I would run away if he let me go. "I'm not excusing what I did to her but, to put it nicely, that was nothing more than a mild introduction to the life I forced her into."

"Explain." I said.

"Marcus and Rebekah, the ones I sold her to, have a story similar to ours." Dimitri answered. "Only they were both Moroi and both extremely cruel and sadistic. They were head over heels in love. Still are, actually. Marcus chose to become a Strigoi because he wanted to live forever outside of everyone's rules. Rebekah for some reason chose to stay Moroi, but she followed Marcus. They've managed to stay together, despite the fact that he is a Strigoi and she a Moroi."

"But Strigoi aren't capable of love." I protested. "They only know evil and cruelty."

"No." Dimitri shook his head. "They focus their energy on evil and cruelty, but they are capable of love when they want to be."

"See, that's always going to be weird to me." I said. It was hard to accept something outside the realm of what I had been taught. Then again, my experiences with Dimitri when he was a Strigoi did prove they could be different. Yes, Dimitri was cold and cruel, but he had his moments when he could be protective, and even affectionate. I supposed if the feelings were strong enough before the transformation then it was possible they could stay with that Moroi, dhampir, or human long after it has been done.

"It's not important to this story." Dimitri answered. "Just as long as you know they are like you and me. They would die for each other. It doesn't matter that he is a Strigoi by choice and that she is still a Moroi. All that matters is they are in love."

I nodded. "Go on."

"Rebekah eventually got the idea to start a nightclub; one that caters to all supernatural creatures. She originally wanted it to be a place where any supernatural being could go for entertainment, food, blood, or any other indulgence they could think of."

"That doesn't sound too bad." I said. In fact, it was a brilliant idea. Vampires weren't the only supernatural creatures that walked this earth in fear of being discovered by humans. It would've been nice to have a place to go to meet new people who wouldn't care what you were or what you could do. If it wasn't for the fact that this place was run by a sadistic Moroi and her Strigoi lover, I'd suggest Lissa, Christian, Dimitri, and I go there for a night out.

"Honestly, it would have been brilliant if someone of higher moral standing had come up with it." Dimitri explained. "The two turned the idea into something twisted and dark that only attracted the most evil of our kind."

"What do you mean?" I asked slowly unsure if I really wanted to know.

"Rebekah is a master manipulator." Dimitri continued. "She uses her skills to convince homeless teenagers and runaways to work for her in exchange for a place to sleep, and three meals a day."

"Let me guess, that work involves prostituting themselves to the clients."

"Sometimes. It just depends on what the clients want, and what Rebekah and Marcus feel they're suited for. Sometimes they just dance, serve food, or give blood. They even have some male dhampirs they use as bouncers. They are strict rules on hat can and can't be done to one of the workers. If those rules are broken, Marcus personally kills those who break them."

"Okay, that is too weird for words." I said, voicing my confusion. True, it sounded like they were doing a good thing getting these kids off the streets, but making them do potentially dangerous things with the supernatural clients was wrong. Yet, they seemed willing to protect the kids, even if it meant killing their clients.

"Believe me, I know." Dimitri answered squeezing my hand a little tighter. "Even as I Strigoi, I thought they were crazy, but I did indulge…"

"No." I shook my head and pulled my hand away from him. "I'm having a hard enough time processing what happened with Katya. I don't wanna know what you did with other girls."

"I didn't rape them, Roza." He said reaching for me. I pulled away from him. I couldn't help it. Hearing all of this was confusing me even more than I had been before. "If one of their workers does not want a job that involves sex, they are not forced into it, but there are plenty of girls who beg for certain clients. And I was…"

I knew where he was going with that, and I didn't think my brain could handle that much right now. I needed him to finish the story about Katya. We'd discuss the rest later.

"Don't." I said, putting my hands over my ears. "Just finished the story about Katya."

He took a deep breath, and I allowed him to grab my and pull them away from my ears. I even managed not to flinch this time. He slid his hands down my wrists until his fingers were entwined with mine.

"I'm sorry." He whispered rubbing gentle circles into the back of my hands with his thumbs. "I know this is a lot to take in. We'll stick to what happened with Katya for now. I sold her to Marcus and Rebekh telling them that they didn't have to pay by their usual rules with her. She was theirs to do with what they wanted, even if it meant allowing her to be raped repeatedly. I told them I didn't care what happened to her, as long as she was still alive when I returned for her."

I swallowed hard as more bile fought its way into the back of my throat. I kept telling myself that it wasn't my Dimitri that had done and said those things. It was the monster Dimitri, and he had been dead for weeks. This was my Dimitri and he was trying to atone for his mistakes. These things were getting harder and harder to remember, though.

"They paid me me 1,000 American dollars for her." He continued. "Had I not been in such a hurry to find you, I would've demanded more. But I just wanted to get rid of her, so I could go after you. I handed her over to them for the thousand, though, and didn't look back. I have no idea what happened to her after I left."

"And that's why you're risking our relationship." I said as a rush of warm feelings spread through me. "You want to go back for her."

"Yes, I want to go back for her." he answered. "I know it is dangerous, and this isn't the best time, but I owe her that much. It's my fault she is in that mess in the first place. I need to do what I can to get her out of it. I just can't do it alone."

Tears fell from his eyes as he practically pleaded for help. I should've been angry about the fact that he thought he needed to beg for help with this, but I was too stunned by his tears. I had never seen him like this before. Sure, he felt guilty about the things he had done as a Strigoi, and he often cried about those things. This was different, though.

The guilt over this was tearing him up inside. I could see it in his eyes. He needed to save her. Not just because it was the right thing to do, but because it was the only way he could even begin to put this demon to rest.

It was heartbreaking to see him like that. I forced back my own tears and pulled him into my arms. I was going to get him through this.

"You don't have to." I said cradling his head his head against my chest. "We will do it together."

**KATYA**

"That's enough." Rebekah said, kicking me in the face after what felt like hours of kissing her feet. "I'm bored. Lie down flat on your stomach."

Her tone told me we were done playing her little game, so I did exactly what she said. I put my face in the carpet and closed my eyes, praying she was bore enough to just leave me be. A few seconds later, I felt the belt land hard on my back and had to bite my tongue to keep from screaming through the pain of it. Rebekah chuckled.

"It's alright to scream this time, puppy." She said. "In fact, I want you to left your head, so I can hear those beautiful little screams.

Not wanting to make this any worse than it was already going to be, I did as she said fighting back the tears. I screamed as the belt hit me three more times in quick succession, and Rebekah just laughed. I screamed louder trying to block out the sound of her laughter.

It went on like that for what seemed like hours, but was probably only minutes. She would hit me and laugh, and I would scream loudly doing my best to block out her laughter. But the louder I screamed the louder she laughed. Eventually, her laughter blocked out the sounds of my screams, and it was all I could hear bouncing around in my head as my back burned with every lash.

"That was fun." She said when it was finally over. I let out a little whimper to let her know just how much fun I had. She chuckled and placed her barefoot on my back. I screamed as it set a fire blazing all over my body. "Of course, it wasn't fun for you, bitch." She sneered. "Your purpose is to entertain me, even if it means pain for you." She dug her heel into a particularly sore part of my back, eliciting another scream from me. "Now, I have to go check on the kids. I'll send Adam down to clean you up when he finishes his duties."

She left the room without even bothering to put me back in the cage. I couldn't really blame her. It's not like I couldn't have moved, even if I wanted to.

**A/N: Well, what do you guys think? I had a hard time writing this chapter as it is sort of a filler one. I'm still trying to figure out exactly where I want this story to go. I know they will rescue Katya, but I'm not sure what I wanna do after that. If anyone has any suggestions, I'm all ears. **


	8. There's Plenty of Men to Die

**A/N: Sorry there is so much time between updates on this story. Since I'm still not completely positive where I am going with it, it is the story I work only when I am blocked on my other stories. I am trying very hard to come up with something for after Katya is rescued, and I think I'm getting something. This chapter is going to sort of set up for it. Hope you enjoy!**

**ROSE**

"We need to come up with a plan to get Katya out of there quickly while putting her in the least amount of danger possible." I said pacing in front of Lissa's desk.

Dimitri and I had returned to Lissa's study to find that she had been extremely busy while we had been talking. Eddie, Adrian, Sonya, Mikhail, and, surprisingly, my mother—last time I saw her she was getting on a plane to rejoin her charge—had joined Lissa and Christian and had been brought up to speed about the Katya situation.

Adrian and I still weren't on speaking terms, and he was sitting in Lissa's armchair with a glass of whiskey in his hand. He smelled like liquor, and I could imagine that he was already too far gone to be of much help. Why had Lisaa asked him to join us in the first place?

The others were sitting around the room looking horrified, but ready to do battle for this innocent little girl. Eddie even looked excited about Lissa trusting him with something this big after the council had been road blocking every attempt he made to prove himself a worthy guardian again. Sonya and Mikhail were whispering quietly to each other while my mother just stood in the corner staring at me.

She hadn't said a word since we began talking strategy, which was weird considering she was always the first to jump in when something needed to be planned. I hoped it was because she finally trusted me enough to take the lead on this, but I wasn't sure.

"Can't Dimitri simply go to Russia and buy her back?" Adrian suggested with a shrug.

I looked at Adrian surprised by his suggestion. It was so obvious and simple a solution that I hadn't even thought of it. The fact that someone as drunk as Adrian came up with it before I did made me realize just how much this whole thing had messed with my head.

"What?" Adrian asked, narrowing his eyes at me. "I may be a drunk, but I'm not stupid, Rose."

"I didn't say you were, Adrian." I snapped back, crossing my arms over my chest. "I was simply marveling at what a simple and obvious solution it was. Not everything I say is an attack on you."

"Really, because the last time we talked, I sure got that impression." He said.

"I…I…" I started.

"Knock it off, you two." My mom said from her corner. "This is more important than your post break up fight. You need to stop acting like two year olds if you wanna help this girl."

"You're right, mom. Sorry." I said while Adrian just took another drink of his whiskey. I sighed and turned my attention to Dimitri. "Would that work? Would they simply sell her back to you?"

Dimitri, who had been sitting in my favorite chair, shook his head.

"If they like her as much as I did," He said with a curl of his lip. He was absolutely disgusted at the idea he had once felt that way about her. "And I'm pretty sure they do, they won't be willing to sell her to anybody; strigoi, Moroi, or dhampir. The only reason I did is because I knew taking her with me would be impractical. She would've been too hard to control while traveling."

"So that means we can't do things the easy way, then. So how can we get her out without getting her hurt?" I asked.

"Maybe you're thinking too small." Eddie suggested moving from his perch on the corner of Lissa's desk. "You are focusing on Katya, but what about the others who are prisoners there as well? What if Lissa did an official raid of the place? As Queen, she has a right to do that without warning. We could use it as a distraction to get Katya and the others out, and rid ourselves of a huge problem."

"That's a good idea, in theory, Eddie." Sonya answered. "But from what the others have said, they really aren't doing anything illegal. All those kids, except Katya, are there willingly. Besides, it is the only place some of them have to go. If we take them out of there, they will have nowhere else to go, except the streets."

"Not true." Lissa answered. "First of all, they are prostituting some of those kids, and prostitution is illegal in Russia for humans and vampires. And I'm willing to bet most of those kids are underage, which makes it even more illegal. Am I right Dimitri?"

"Sadly, they have kids as young as twelve working for them in a sexual capacity." Dimitri answered, putting his head in his hands. I walked over to him and curled myself into his lap wrapping my arms around his neck.

I had been so busy trying to process my own feelings about this, that I was forgetting how Dimitri must be feeling—and not just about Katya. He had admitted to doing sexual with things with several of these girls, and I could only imagine how much it was haunting him.

I may have needed time to process all of this, but he needed me, and I wasn't going to leave him stranded. He wrapped his arms around me, pulling me closer to him.

"I will get you through this." I told him laying my head on his chest. He simply kissed my hair in response.

"If they are breaking both human and vampire laws, then a raid would be justified." Lissa continued sounding more regal than I thought possible. "As far as where the kids will go when they are rescued, we will help them figure that out when the time comes."

"I like the idea of finally shutting them down." Dimitri said. "But we can't just send a handful of guardians in there without knowing what we are walking into. We need to know the place inside and out before we raid them, especially because I can't be sure where they will be keeping Katya. I can tell you where the other kids will be, but Katya could be anywhere.

If we have any hope of saving her, we need to know where she will be before we go in. If we don't know where she is, and Rebekah and Marcus do, they'll probably kill her or use her as leverage to get out. We need to be able to prevent that."

"That means we need to send someone in that will give them no reason to be suspicious." Eddie said, tapping his chin with his finger. "It needs to look like this person is just going in to have a good time, and doesn't care about the illegal happenings around them."

"What about me?" Christian, who had been standing behind Lissa massaging her shoulders, said. "The Ozera name is still associated with evil, and I can definitely act the part."

"That would work." Adrian stated, taking another drink of his whiskey. "If your relationship with Queen Vasilisa wasn't a "scandal" talked about throughout the entire vampire community. I'm sure they know all about it in Russia too."

"He's right." I sighed. "If the queen's boyfriend, despite his last name, walked in there, they would immediately be on alert. No, we need someone's whose attendance at an illegal night club full of underage prostitutes wouldn't raise an eyebrow. Someone who could smile and charm his way into any information, including the whereabouts of the bosses' favorite "pet." I couldn't help the smile that crossed my face as I realized exactly who we needed.

I pulled out my cell phone and dialed a number that I didn't think I'd be using so soon after his departure.

"Rose, is everything alright?" He answered after the third ring.

"No, it's not, Old Man." I said. "I need your help."

**KATYA**

I tried hard not to cry as I laid there awaiting Adam's return, but it didn't work very well. The pain was too intense for me to hold in any longer, but my body jolted with every sob sending waves of pain all through my back, which made me want to cry even more. It was an endless vicious cycle that I hated.

Through every wave of pain, I prayed Adam would come back soon. He would not only tend my wounds, but his presence would go a long way to soothe the turmoil my session with Rebekah had caused. He would take care of me and remind me that I had a reason to keep going. I just had to hold on until he got there.

At one point, I closed my eyes and prayed for sleep. God must have heard me, because the next thing I knew, the fire running over my back had been extinguished—it was replaced by a gentle cooling sensation—and I was no longer on the floor.

My face was buried in a pillow and a sheet was beneath my stomach. Whatever I was laying on was softer than the floor but not quite as comfortable as the bed, probably the couch. In the places the cooling sensation was lacking, I felt gentle fingertips running across them. It was as soothing as the cooling sensation, but much nicer. It was the gentlest touch I had felt from anyone since the night Dimitri killed my father and made me his prisoner. I wanted to revel in it forever.

The sound of sobs coming from above me ruined the pleasure of the moment. If it wasn't for the gentle state in which the sobbing person was treating me with, I wouldn't have recognized him. I had never heard Adam cry before, and he had been the one to treat me through some of my worst injuries while at the club. Had Rebekah really hurt me enough to bring him to tears this time?

"Adam?" I asked fighting to turn my head to look at him. Pain seared through my back, not quite as intense as it was before, but enough to cause me to cringe. The feeling of gentle fingers left my back.

"Try not to move." Adam whispered, grabbing my head and helping me to move it without causing too much pain.

"Why are you crying?" I asked as he gently laid my head back on the pillow. He quickly swiped at his looking embarrassed about being caught.

He shook his head, looking down at his feet.

"You scared me this time." He finally answered not meeting my eyes. "When I saw you asleep on the floor, tore up like that, I thought she had actually killed this time."

"Unfortunately, I'm still here." I said. Yes, I had decided to stop trying to get myself killed, but that didn't mean I didn't want it to happen. I wanted to get out of here, and if death was my only option, I would accept it with open arms.

"Don't say that." He said running his fingers over my cheek.

"Why not?" I argued. "I don't want to die, but it is looking more and more like death is going to be my only escape from this hell. All I want is to get out of here, Adam. " Tears fell down my cheeks. I didn't bother to try to wipe them away; it would've hurt too much.

"I know, but death isnt the way." Adam answered wiping my tears away for me. "Death is giving up, and you have survived too much to give up, now."

"I'm gonna die here eventually." I argued. "The sooner it happens, the better."

Adam sighed and went back to running his fingers along the more serious wounds on my back.

"Where there's life, there's hope, Kat." He said using the nickname he had given me after my first week at the club.

He said it suited me better than my actual name, Ekaterina, or its Russian nickname, Katya. I liked it because it felt like a secret between him and me. Plus, it was the only time I heard any form of my actual name anymore.

"I know." I sighed, not wanting to be angry with him. He was the only in this place who was ever kind to me. I didn't want him to walk away. "It is just really hard to hold on to hope when you get beaten and/or raped every night by vampires who use you as their own private soda fountain."

"Then let me be your hope." He said dropping to his knees in front of me. "I'll get us out of here, I promise. One way or another."

"Adam, it is impossible."

"Nothing is impossible, Kat." He placed a gentle hand on my cheek. "You just have to want it bad enough, and I want to get you out of here more than I have ever wanted anything in my life. I hate seeing you like this, baby. I hate never knowing if you'll be dead or alive the next time I see you. I want to know that you are always safe."

I liked that he was willing to do this for me, but it was too dangerous. As an employee, he could walk away at any time. Marcus and Rebekah never made anyone stay against their will. All he had to do was tell them that he wanted to leave, and he could walk right out the door. Me, I was a prisoner. The only way I was getting out is if they let me go, or I escaped. I couldn't escape alone, but I wouldn't let Adam put himself in that kind of danger.

"Adam, you can't." I said. "It is too dangerous for you. If they even find out about the things you do for me already, you will be in so much trouble. And if you try to help me escape, I have no doubt that they will kill you."

"I don't care anymore, Kat." He said firmly. "It gets worse every time I have to come in here and tend to your injuries. I will not wait for you to be dead before I get you out of here. I will figure out a way to save you, no matter what I have to do."

I opened my mouth to tell him that I wasn't worth the risk, but a familiar, cold voice cut me off.

"Are you sure that's a promise you want to make, Adam?"

**DIMITRI**

Rose had crawled off my lap while she talked to her father about helping us. I couldn't believe that I hadn't thought about asking him for help from the beginning. He did a lot of business in Russia—most of which was illegal—of course he would know about the illegal workings of Russia. He would also be able to get into a nightclub and make inquiries without arousing suspicions. He could simply play it off like he was trying to get into the business of trafficking. It was absolutely perfect.

Plus, no one knew how closely involved he was with the Queen's guardian's family. The fact that Abe Mazur was Rose's father wasn't something that was widely known. In fact, Rose had only told those closest to her, and they would all take it to the grave. His involvement in this would give us a great advantage.

I hadn't expected Katya's rescue would turn into something this big, but I was glad that Eddie had suggested it. When I was a Strigoi, I had loved going to that club and getting my fill of easy sex and blood. I enjoyed how scared the girls had been whenever we were alone together. Yes, I had my favorites, and I had compelled them to flock to me every time, but I made sure they were afraid every time. The monster fed on those feelings of fear and dominance.

Now that he was dead, though, I could hardly believe that I had enjoyed even the tiniest bit of those girls' discomfort, especially the ones who were barely teenagers. It made me sick to think about the things that I had done, and I hated knowing those girls were still suffering. They may be there by choice, but they didn't deserve to be treated that way. I couldn't wait to see the end of that club, and the end of Marcus and Rebekah. They had hurt too many people to be allowed to live.

I hoped I could be the one to stake them both.

"He is getting on the first plane to Russia." Rose said snapping me out of my thoughts. "He will visit the club and get as much information as possible. We're going to meet him there in a few days and form a plan based on what he finds out. Dimitri, do you think your mom would mind letting us use her home as a base of operations?"

"I suppose. I will give her a call after this meeting just to make sure." He answered.

"Good. Now, Mikhail, I need you to get a group of our best guardians together." Rose continued in guardian mode. I couldn't help but smile as I watched her. This was her element, and I loved watching her shine. "Brief them about what's going on and tell them to be ready to go to Russia by Friday. Make sure they know we don't know how long we will be there, but I need them to pack lightly."

As she continued giving orders, I couldn't help but marvel at the wonderful creature I got to call mine. I had just rocked her world mere hours ago by telling her all of this, but she had put all of that aside in order to help this innocent little girl from a fate worse than death; a fate Rose knew I had gotten her into. And she still loved me, even knowing that evil I had done. She was truly the kindest, most forgiving person that I had even known, and she was all mine, even through the worst of what I had done.

I didn't deserve her love and forgiveness after all I had done to her, to others, and to Katya, but she was standing by me through all of it, and that thought made me feel lighter and better than I had since Lissa killed the monster. If Rose could love me even after what I'd done to Katya, nothing else mattered.

"Mom," Rose continued once Mikhail had gone to do assignment. "Will you please keep an extra close watch on Lissa and Christian while we are gone? I know you'd rather be where the action is and, to be honest, I'd rather have you at my back, but with Dimitri and me gone, you are the only one I trust enough to be in charge of their safety."

"Don't worry, Rose. They will be in good hands." Janine said, putting a hand on Rose's shoulder. "Besides, this is your raid. Your chance to show those who still believe that you are unworthy that you are. You will take the lead with this, and you will come back successful."

"Thanks, Mom." Rose smiled at the praise.

"Wait a minute." Lissa said. "I'm not staying behind. I want to help."

"No." I said before Rose had a chance. "It is too dangerous, Lissa. If they had a chance to kill you, they'll take it. You're safest here behind the wards."

"What if someone needs healed?" She argued. "You need a spirit user there."

"We will have Oksana on standby." I told her. Oksana was a nice spirit user who lived close to my family. I had met her upon my return to Russia as a dhampir. She would be able to handle any injuries that were acquired during the raid. There was no reason to put the queen in unnecessary danger.

"And I will be there too." Adrian said, downing his third glass of whiskey.

"No, you won't." Rose stated. "You are in no condition to do something as dangerous as this."

"First of all, you have no business talking about my 'condition.'" Adrian snapped back. "Second, what is dangerous about sitting around with a nice Russian family until you guys come back from the raid?"

"You need to sober to use your healing powers, Adrian." Rose responded. "You haven't been sober since…" She trailed off, looking to the floor.

Despite Adrian's attitude, Rose still felt horrible for doing what she did to him. She never wanted to hurt him, but you can't deny the heart what it wants. Adrian was hurting, though, and nobody knew how to help him.

"Since you broke my heart." Adrian finished for her. "Just say it, Rose."

Rose opened her mouth to argue back, but I stepped in.

"This is why you aren't going." I said. "You can't let go of what happened long enough to think straight."

"Don't talk to me about letting it go, Belikov."

"Enough." Janine snapped again. "All of you need to stop arguing like children. The queen, Christian, and Adrian are staying right here at Court, because their lives are too important to risk. End of story."

Everyone stopped arguing after that. Janine Hathaway was a formiable woman and guardian. When she spoke and gave orders, there was no arguing there was just doing as you are told.

"Now," She continued. "I'm sure Rose and Dimitri have a lot to discuss before we leave."

Rose and I looked at each other with raised eyebrows. She we had a lot to discuss about this, but it was something that could be put on the back burner until after the raid. I mean, saving innocent young kids was more important than fixing our relationship. Janine sighed pinching the bridge of her nose.

"If this has caused any issues with trust between the two of you, it needs to be worked out now." She explained. "You two are the best guardians I've seen in a long time, and that's on your own. Together you are lethal. If that has done anything to mess that up your flow, it needs to be dealt with now. You two need to be at your best for this. So deal with it. Everyone else, out now."

Again, nobody questioned Janine they simply followed her out the door. I swallowed hard and looked to Rose who looked back at me, eyes full of uncertainty.

**KATYA**

The couch was situation in the middle of the large room that served as an apartment to Rebekah and Marcus. There was a T.V. in front of it, but the door was directly behind us. Neither Adam or I saw or even heard Rebekah walk in until it was too late.

Adam stood up to glare at Rebekah. He even dropped into a crouch prepared to attack.

"Yes, I really do. I've seen you hurt this girl too much in the last few weeks. I won't let you do it anymore."

"Adam, don't." I whispered from the couch. "Just walk away."

"I can't do that, Kat." He told me. "Not anymore."

Rebekah chuckled and I fought to get into a sitting position through the pain in my back.

"From the moment I spotted you on the street, I thought you were stupid." Rebekah said. "But I didn't realize how stupid until now. Stand down, you can't win."

I finally managed to get sat up to see Rebakah had brought back up. Three vampires and a couple dhampirs stood behind her.

"I will fight for her until there's nothing left." Adam answered sinking deeper into a crouch.

Rebekah laughed again and nodded at one of the other vampires. Before I could even register what was happening, I was yanked off the couch by my hair and dragged over to Rebekah. The vampire had yanked my head to the side giving him better access to my neck. I could feel his lips at my neck. I swallowed hard, praying that Adam would live no matter what happened next.

"Let's try this again." Rebekah snapped. "Stand down, or my friend will kill her."

Slowly, Adam relaxed raising his hands in surrender. Rebekah walked up to him and slapped him so hard he fell to the floor. He didn't make a sound as he painfully collided with it.

"Adam!" I yelled struggling against the vampire holding me.

"Shut up." Rebekah snapped at me, kicking Adam in the stomach. "Did you think we wouldn't find out about this?" She asked kicking him again. "Did you think you could hide your feelings from us?" She kicked him again and again. "We are smarter than that, you stupid little boy. We've known for a while now."

"Please, leave him alone." I begged from the vampires arms. Rebekah kicked him again.

"Bring her here." She snapped at the vampire. "We are going to show lover boy how helpless he is."

The vampire dragged me over to her and shoving me into her arms. He and one of the other vampires yanked Adam off the floor forcing him to look at me.

Rebekah shoved me to the floor and began kicking me just like she had kicked Adam. I screamed in pain and gasped for breath as I tried to block the kicks to my already battered body. I was vaguely aware of Adam yelling for me, but it was too much to focus on.

When the kicks finally stopped, I heard Rebekah say,

"Lock him in the dungeon across the hall. Marcus and I will decide what to do with him when he returns."

Then everything went black.

**A/N: What do you guys think? I know it is a little early for Adam and Katya to get caught, but I need this to set up for the next part of my story. Also, for anyone who was wondering Katya is a legitimate Russian nickname for Ekaterine, which just happens to be my favorite Russian name. **


	9. Don't Jump Your Turn

**A/N: I am so excited! I have finally figured out where I want this story to go. This chapter is really going to start setting things up. **

**Hope you all enjoy this chapter. I am kind of excited for where this is going. **

**ROSE**

I sighed and sank into my favorite armchair. I had known we would have to have this conversation eventually, but I had hoped we could wait until Katya was saved and I had a better idea of how I was feeling about everything. Planning this raid had given me a good enough excuse to stop thinking about my confusing feelings for Dimitri. Now that I was forced to talk about them in greater detail than we had, I had no idea what I was going to say.

There was no doubt in my mind that I still loved Dimitri even through the horrible things he had done to that poor girl, and I still trusted him to have my back in a fight. But I couldn't help feeling guilty about all of that.

What kind of person could still be in love with a man who would keep a child locked up as his own personal sex slave? Yes, I understood that my Dimitri wasn't in control of himself when it was happening, but it doesn't change the fact that a young girl's life is forever altered and possibly destroyed because of what he did. How could I look him in the eye and make love to him, knowing that poor, defenseless Katya looked in those same eyes begging him to stop as he raped her? What kind of a decent human being could do that?

I didn't know, and that's what was going to make this conversation so difficult to get through. I wanted to love him and be there for him, but it felt like a betrayal to Katya.

"Talk to me, Roza." Dimitri said as he knelt in front of me. The look on his face told me this wasn't the first time he has spoken to me. I was so lost in thought, I hadn't heard him. Even if I had, I wouldn't have known what to say. I still didn't, but I had to say something. If only to get us through these next few days. "Please." The desperation in that last word hit me harder than anything else.

Despite my reassurances that this hadn't affected my feelings towards him, he was still terrified that I was going to walk away from him. I could hear it in his voice and see it in his eyes. The fact that his emotions where this much of an open book made me realize just how scared he was. He never let anyone see this much of his heart, and it scared me a lot.

"What do you want me to say, Dimitri?" I asked, swallowing the lump his emotions brought into my throat.

"Tell me what you're really feeling." He said with the same desperation as before. "And not the sugar coated version you gave me back at the gym. I know that you still love me, but there is more to it than that, and you know it. Tell me what it is."

I took a deep breath trying to compose myself. I hate that this whole thing had completely shattered my tough Rose exterior. I hated being this vulnerable. I took comfort in knowing Dimitri was the only one who could see me like this. I didn't think I could deal if the others saw it.

"I feel guilty, Dimitri." I told him. "I feel like a terrible person." I closed my eyes and swallowed hard again trying not to let my tears escape.

"Why? Roza," He grabbed both my hands and squeezed them tightly in his. "You have no reason to feel like that. This one's all on me. I'm the one who hurt her, not you. You've done nothing wrong."

"Haven't I?" I asked. "You told me what you did to her, and I'm still sitting in front of you. You ripped a young girl's innocence from her, and I haven't run for the hills. I still love you despite all of it. How is that not wrong?"

He sighed. "Because love isn't logical or rational, and it doesn't make sense. We love each other, though, and obviously, something like this isn't supposed to get in the way of that."

I shook my head and pulled my hands away from him. I knew it was a cruel gestured considering how terrified he was of me walking away from him, but I just couldn't handle the words he was saying. For someone who always seemed to know me better than I knew myself, he had no idea what I was trying to tell him now.

"You don't get it." I snapped. "I have been distracting myself with further discussion of how to get Katya away from those monsters because whenever I think about you and me, all I can think about is how one earth I could still love you after hearing this."

He flinched at those words and hurt flashed across his face.

"So you're saying that you don't want to love me anymore?" He asked in a trembling voice.

"Yes." I said, realizing that wasn't the whole truth. I did still want to love him. He was the center of my world and had been since he came into it. I didn't want to lose that, again. "No. I don't know. I can't imagine my life without you Dimitri, even when you were Strigoi, you were there. I can't remember how I felt before you came into my life, but if you were to ever truly leave it there would be a whole in my heart forever. I can't lose you."

The tears I had been trying so hard to hold back were slowly starting to leak out. I just couldn't keep it together anymore. My emotions were warring with what I knew about right and wrong. I loved him, but he hurt this girl in the worst possible way.

The tiny voice in my head kept reminding me that it wasn't the real Dimitri; he had no control over what he had done. Yet, all I saw when I closed my eyes was strigoi Dimitri tearing into an innocent young girl just because she looked like me. How I was I supposed to make love to him, or even hold him when I could see was him hurting this innocent girl.

Why couldn't Dimitri understand this war I had going on in my head and heart?

"Then what's the problem?" He asked, reaching up and wiping my tears away.

"I know it wasn't really you, Dimitri." I said not bothering to compose myself. "I know on the inside, it was a completely different person, but on the outside, it was still you. When I close my eyes, I can see you hurting her while she cried and screamed and pleaded with you to stop." I had to take a deep breath. My words had started to get incoherent. "How I am supposed to make love to you? Or even let you hold me when that's all I see when I look at you? How I am supposed to go on with this relationship like nothing happened, when I know what you did to her?"

He shook his head and walked to the other side of the room. His control had slipped as much as mine had. I could see every bit of anger, frustration, and sadness that my words had caused him. I wished I knew what to say or do to reassure him of my feelings, but I couldn't; not when I could be sure what they were.

"So what does this mean?" He asked me.

"I don't know, Dimitri." I said at a loss for words. "I guess it means I need more time." I hated saying the words, but I knew they were the right ones. I needed to figure things out for myself. I needed to be able to reconcile my feelings with this new knowledge and be able to put it all in perspective, and that was something I couldn't do until after we got Katya and the others out of that hell hole. "I need time to process and figure out what's right for all of us."

"No." He shook his head, walking back over to my chair. He leaned down on the arms so that he was looking me directly in the eye. "Please, don't say that. I love you, Roza. I need you. I can't do this without you."

More tears escaped at the desperation in his voice. I knew how much he needed me, especially after all of this, but I couldn't do it. Not now when I felt so lost and confused. I _needed _time to figure this shit out. I needed to be able to think and decide things.

"I'm sorry." I said in barely above a whisper. "I will have your back during this fight. Hell, I will always have your back, no matter what happens after this, and I know you will have always have mine. I won't let this affect our professional guardian relationship, but I need to take a step back from out personal one for a while."

Saying those words hurt more than when I discovered he had been turned into a strigoi. Hell, it hurt worse than the hours I spent thinking he was dead. At least in those situations, I had no choice in the matter; they just happened, and there wasn't anything either one of us could do to stop it. Now, I could easily pull him into my arms and tell him none of what happened before mattered. I needed to be away from him for a while, though. I needed to figure out how I felt on my own.

"How can say that?" Dimitri snapped, pulling away from me. I had a feeling he was trying hard to stay in control of his anger. "Of course this is going to affect our professional guardian relationship. Our personal relationship is what makes our professional relationship work. It is what gives us our connection in the field."

"Because we both understand that our duty to the Moroi is more important than anything else, even our personal relationship. Neither of us would do anything to endanger the lives of Moroi or our fellow guardians. We will do what we have to do to protect our charges and save innocent lives. Our personal relationship will be put aside until we are ready to address it."

He didn't say anything in response to my little speech. He didn't have to. We both knew that we would put this raid before anything else. We would make sure our job was done before we address our feelings. It was how we were trained and those ideals came before anything else.

"Please, Roza." He finally whispered. His anger had faded to sadness when he spoke. The desperation in his voice broke my heart, but I had to stay firm. "Don't give up on me. I can't get through this if you do."

I got out of the chair and joined him by the window. I put a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"I'm not giving up." I said. "I just need time to figure out my feelings."

"If that's what you need then I will give it to you." He said not looking at me. "Just remember that I will always love you. Nothing will change that."

He pulled his arm from my grip and walked out the door. It slammed shut behind him, and I dropped to my knees breaking into a million pieces.

**KATYA**

I woke feeling like I had been run over by a truck. Every inch of my body throbbed and ached. The fact that I was dangling an inch or two off the ground by my arms didn't help matters. In fact, I was pretty sure it was the throbbing in my shoulders that had woke me in the first place.

It took me a moment to remember what had caused my latest bout of unconsciousness, but when I did my head immediately snapped up. Adam had been caught trying to help me. Even worse, he had been caught swearing that he would help me to escape. Rebekah had hurt her him and told them that he'd be punished when Marcus returned.

I didn't know how long I had been out. For all I knew, Marcus could've returned and they could've killed him. I didn't want him to die, especially without me having a chance to say goodbye.

My eyes immediately fell on him when they opened, and I breathed a sigh of relief. He was alive and chained in the same manner I was. He was conscious and staring at me as though afraid I was dead. He was a little bruised up, but no worse for the wear.

"Are you okay?" Adam asked as our eyes met.

"I feel like I've been run over by a truck." I said, trying to fight past the grogginess I was still feeling.

"If you could see yourself, you'd understand why." He said with an attempt at a playful smile.

I couldn't make myself smile back. I knew I was probably covered with bruises and God only knew what other kinds of scars, but I wasn't worried about me. Marcus and Rebekah wouldn't be angry enough to kill me. Adam, on the other hand, might not make it to see tomorrow.

"What about you?" I asked. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." He said. "Marcus returned a couple hours ago, but they wanted to wait until you woke up before they punished me."

"Do you have any idea what they are going to do?" I asked as panic seized me.

I didn't want him to hurt because of me, and I certainly didn't want him to die. He should've been able to get enough money to get out of here and move on with his life. He shouldn't have had to suffer and possibly die because of me.

"No." He said. "They refused to talk about it the couple of times they came in to check on you. I need to tell you something before they do whatever it is they are going to do. I need you to know something just in case I don't live through this."

"Adam, don't." I begged tears welling in my eyes. "You are going to live through this. You have to."

"In case I don't, I need you to know that I love you." He continued as if I hadn't spoken. "I have loved since the moment that monster brought you into the club." The tears began spilling over as he continued talking. "And I will always love you from this moment forward. Nothing they can do to me will change that."

I opened my mouth to tell him that I felt the same way. I didn't know how it happened, but I had somehow fallen in love with him over my months of captivity, and I honestly didn't know what I would do if he died.

The door slammed open cutting of my reply to reveal Marcus and Rebekah. Marcus was wearing a simple pair of jeans and a wife beater. There was a sadistic smile on his face and an evil glint in those red ringed eyes. Rebekah was behind him. She too was in a pair of jeans and a simple white tank top. Her brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail. She looked like Christmas had come early this year, and I couldn't help but gulp at the expression on her face.

"There is one thing we can do to you, dear Adam, that will make you stop loving her." Marcus said approaching Adam. "One thing that will make you forget you've ever had any feelings for her. I can make you look at her like nothing but food, and a good fuck." He smile got wider as he got closer to Adam.

Adam seemed to understand what Marcus was talking about, because he paled slightly. I wish I understood, but Marcus's words were completely foreign to me. I didn't take my eyes off the two of them, though.

"It won't be me." Adam said to Marcus. "It will be an evil, empty shell of the man I was. The man who loves her will be dead, and will go on loving her forever."

"What are you talking about?" I asked, unable to stop myself. The only creatures I knew of who could die and still go on living were vampires, but I didn't understand how turning Adam could talk so much away from him. I knew Rebekah, Dimitri, and Marcus were evil, soulless monsters, but I had assumed they had been like that before they were turned. Surely, someone as sweet and tender as Adam wouldn't become like them after a change.

A slap to the side of my head let me know I should've been paying more attention to myself and less to Adam and Marcus. Rebekah had snuck up on me and punished me for speaking without permission.

"Shut up." She snapped. "No one was talking to you."

"Keep your hands off her." Adam snapped, forgetting about his conversation with Marcus.

"Lover boy, you are in no position to tell me what to do." Rebekah snapped and, to prove her point, she punched me in the stomach. I doubled over as much as my bindings would allow as I gasped to get my breath back. Rebekah chuckled. "Say another word about it, and I will start breaking bones."

That shut Adam up pretty quickly.

"You know," Marcus mused. "I don't know what would be more fun; our original plan or keeping him in here like this. Do you have any idea how fun it would be to use each one to control the other? We could finally have our toy completely under our control. I wonder how far she would go to save his life."

Without warning, Marcus punched Adam in the face. Blood spurted out from his nose, and he cried out in pain. Marcus had broken his nose with a simple punch.

"Adam!" I screamed unable to do anything else. Rebekah laughed. Marcus landed another punch in his gut this time and didn't even give him a chance to catch his breath before knocking his legs out from under him. Adam cried out again as his arms were forced to support the extra weight unexpectedly. Marcus went in for another punch. "STOP!" I screamed as loud as I could. "Leave him alone. Please."

Marcus stopped and turned to me with an evil smile twisted on his lips. "And what will you do for me, bitch?" He asked.

"Anything." I said, trying not to cry.

"Really." His smiled widened. "Rebekah let her down. Let's test that."

Rebekah undid the chains holding me up, and I fell to the floor. Both laughed, but neither did anything to help me off the floor. Instead, Marcus reached into his belt and pulled out a dagger. He tossed it on the floor in front of me.

"Pick it up, and do exactly as you're told with it." He ordered me. "And if you try anything stupid, I will kill him."

I gulped and picked the dagger up off the floor with shaking hands and looked to Marcus for further instructions.

"Don't do anything, Kat." Adam said. "Just let them kill me. Please."

"Shut up!" Rebekah yelled, pressing the heel of her stiletto into my foot. I let out a little whimper of pain, but it was enough to silence Adam.

"Now," Marcus smiled. "I want you to cut my name into your arm. I want it deep enough to scar, but not to kill you. Rebekah will bandage it later."

I gulped and shot Adam a look of apology. He didn't like to see me in pain, but my pain was better than watching him get beat to death. So I took a deep breath and did as Marcus said. It was a slow painful process. I was proud to say I made it halfway through before breaking into sobs of pain as I dragged the dagger across my skin.

I didn't spare a glance for Adam. I wasn't sure I could go through with this if I saw how much my hurting myself was hurting him. I did hear sniffles coming from the other side of the room and knew he was crying for me.

When I finally finished, I dropped the dagger and held my bleeding arm up so Marcus could see.

"Good girl." Marcus smiled. "Now, do Rebekah's name on your other arm. I want you to be reminded of who your Masters are every time you look at your arms."

I didn't hesitate for a second when following this order. I knew Adam would get hurt if I didn't listen to what Marcus had said. It was a much slower process because I had to use my right hand—I was left handed—but I somehow managed to get through this one with only a few whimpers of pain.

Adam continued to cry, but didn't say anything. He didn't want Rebekah to hurt me anymore than she already had.

As Marcus had ordered, I didn't make the cuts deep enough to kill me, but I had lost a lot of blood since I started slicing my own skin. By the time I finished Rebekah's name, I was dizzy and my vision was blurring a little. I held both trembling arms up to Marcus to show that I had done exactly as he ordered.

"Excellent." Marcus smiled. "Rebekah, hold her up. I want to make sure she gets a good look at this."

Rebekah pulled me off the floor by my hair. I was too far gone from the blood loss to really feel it. My brain too fuzzy to even spare a thought to what Marcus was going to do to Adam. Rebekah moved her arms around my waist and pulled me close to her body. My arms were pinned to her stomach, but I was too weak to try to escape anyway.

Marcus grabbed Adam by the hair and yanked his head to the side, exposing his neck.

"No!" I screamed as Marcus's fangs pierced Adam's skin. "You said you wouldn't kill him if I did what you said." Tears were streaming down my face as I feebly struggled to get out of Rebekah's grip.

Rebekah's lips brushed my ear as she whispered,

"Marcus isn't killing him. He's awakening him."

**A/N: What do you guys think? I hope you aren't too mad about what happened with Rose and Dimitri. I wasn't going to do it, but the muses sort of took that part in its own direction. I am a slave to the muses. I think it is a good idea for Rose to have some distance from him, anyway. As she said, she needs to be able to reconcile her feelings for Dimitri with the feelings of guilt knowing what he did to Katya. Just stick with me through this, okay. My muses know what they are doing. **


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